Maria and George Haddad stopped by American Canyon’s Napa-Sonoma Visitors Center for maps of the Napa Valley, and maybe to pick up a bottle of wine.

They were out of luck. The Haddads, visiting from Orlando, Fla., found a shuttered storefront, left the center and resumed their trip northward on Highway 29. A few minutes later, other drivers who had seen the sign for the visitor center did the same.

After years in operation under different owners, the Napa-Sonoma Visitors Center and adjacent cafe shut down in August, a victim of the down economy.

The center, which featured a tasting room, deli and plenty of floor space displaying cases of local wines, first opened in the mid-1990s. Ruben Carreon, the owner of Emmy Lou’s Diner in Napa, took over the business in November 2008.

He was the third owner in three years. Rent was $10,800 a month, he said, and income was not keeping up with expenses.

“I had to close it,” Carreon said. “Unfortunately, that’s the way it happens.”

Others nearby are trying to fill in the gaps.

Brokers at nearby ReMax Gold Solutions, who have been fielding queries to lease the space, have been handing out maps of the Napa Valley. So has the American Canyon Chamber of Commerce.

Chuck Fitzgerald, a broker at ReMax, said as many as 25 vehicles can stop at the center on any given day.

“I feel sorry for them,” he said of the tourists.

Kristofer Chun, a broker at ReMax, said he gives out maps and offers his own tips, based on his experience and his wife’s work in the wine industry.

“You never know if you’re going to meet a new client,” Chun added. “It works out well for everybody.”

Pam Wilkinson, chief executive officer and president of the American Canyon Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber’s board has discussed opening a visitor center at the chamber’s office in Canyon Plaza.

One consideration is the costs involved if the chamber office is to stay open longer hours.

As for the old center, Fitzgerald said this week he is receiving queries to lease the 4,000-square-foot visitor center and tasting room, or the 2,000-square-foot space for the cafe.

“We’ve had several on the wine and a few on the restaurant,” said Fitzgerald. He said he believes the best use is to lease the parts of the building separately.