Students furnishing their apartments will soon have to look harder for supplies.

Centre Hardware Inc. will close before mid-March, General Manager Tom Corman said. The store will continue retail sales until the end of this month.

Goodwill Industries will move into the building, located at 221 S. Allen St.

For more than 50 years, customers have patronized the store when making school projects, furnishing apartments and buying extra copies of keys, said Judy Bennett, assistant manager.

"Students and keys go hand in hand," Bennett said.

Barry Endy, owner of Village Ace Hardware, 1518 N. Atherton St., said Centre Hardware's closing will not have an impact on his store or facilitate new customers.

Enough hardware stores exist to accommodate local residents, Endy said, adding that he does not think another store needs to open.

But State College resident Chris Frye said he is upset that the only hardware store downtown is closing.

He blamed the closing on the economy, adding that many stores in the area, such as Big Top Market, 138 E. Beaver Ave., are leaving.

"It's unfortunate the way this town is turning out," Frye said.

Borough Manager Peter Marshall said residents may be inconvenienced, but there must be enough people interested in a store to keep it in business.

"The problem is that you can buy hardware at many places," Marshall said.

Some students expressed concern about the store's closing.

"I don't know where else I'll go. I live right down the street," said John Kimmich (senior-business logistics).

The store is convenient, Kimmich said, adding that he and his roommates use Centre Hardware when furnishing their apartment.

Janine Pillitteri (graduate-biobehavioral health) went to the hardware store to purchase supplies for a research project.

"They seem like they have a lot of odd things they might not have in other stores," Pillitteri said.