(06-25) 18:00 PDT OAKLAND -- Oakland's famous De Lauer's newsstand may yet live.

The 101-year-old institution on Broadway had announced it was going out of business, but the news prompted so many offers of help and support that it will continue operating for the time being, proprietor Charles De Lauer said late Wednesday.

The round-the-clock store famous for a multitude of magazines and newspapers planned to close at 10 p.m. Wednesday. Several years of mounting losses preceded the handwritten sign on the door that told customers about the looming end.

But an outpouring of community support provided a last-minute change of plans, De Lauer said.

"We're getting people from all over the place," he said. "They just can't stand to see it closed. The whole thing is just remarkable."

De Lauer named Post Newspapers Group Publisher Paul Cobb as one leading figure who's pitched in.

Cobb acknowledged that several meetings occurred Wednesday with different financial participants but added that legal and economic issues remain to be resolved.

"I am confident that we will be able to bring some parties and resources to keep this as one of Oakland's signature landmarks," he said.

Cobb said he believed it is the only 24-hour newsstand left in America.

He said the chief coordinator of the rescue effort is David Glover, executive director of OCCUR, an Oakland nonprofit.

Glover cited a surge of sympathy and offers of help that flocked to the business Wednesday.

But he cautioned that the reprieve is temporary for now.

"At least there is a bit of a reprieve," he said. "There is time, and hopefully something good will come of it."

Store manager Fasil Lemme cited assistance from the city government also.

Keira Williams, retail specialist for business development services for the city of Oakland, said she and another city staffer met with Lemme once and that she plans to meet with him again Monday.

She said the city may be able to help with obtaining grants or loans, but that no firm plans have been made.

De Lauer said there have been a couple of offers to buy the business and that the landlord has sent word not to worry about the rent.

"They won't tolerate to see it closed, which is good," he said. "We want to kind of go along with that."

De Lauer's sells a huge variety of magazines and offers books and sundries. It once featured many out-of-town newspapers.

But it has been losing money for several years, and the 91-year-old De Lauer had to stop working at the store late last year after he was diagnosed with leukemia. He took over the business from his father, who started it selling newspapers from small wagons on Broadway in 1907.

E-mail Charles Burress at cburress@sfchronicle.com.