A downtown sandwich shop that has been serving the community for more than 30 years is up for sale -- on eBay.

A part of the Happy Valley experience, the Penn State Sub Shop #1, 225 E. Beaver Ave., was listed on eBay; the bidding closed today at 9 a.m.

After owning the sub shop for a year and a half, Tom and Kate Cestone decided to auction off the business on eBay because of a change in his wife's job location. The starting bid was $100,000.

By press time, there were no bids on the sub shop, but Tom Cestone said he had about five interested buyers who had contacted him through the Web site asking for more information and times to set up a meeting to visit the shop.

Tom Cestone said he would not reopen the auction until all of his interested buyers were "exhausted." He added that they would like to sell the business as is, to keep the sub shop alive.

"We are selling the name, food and equipment," Tom Cestone said.

Kate's father-in-law deals with eBay and mentioned that it would be a good idea to list the sub shop online because it could generate a lot of interest from Penn State alumni all over the world, Tom Cestone said.

Downtown Improvement District Director Teresa Sparacino said she was unaware that people were auctioning their businesses online.

Tom Cestone added that he and his wife had not heard of auctioning businesses online and did not think that they would get any offers. But after being listed on eBay for the past week, they were receiving e-mails from several different people.

"The majority of interested buyers were Penn State alumni with dreams to own the downtown business," Tom Cestone said.

Penn State alumni David Young said he came across the auction in an e-mail from a friend and initially thought it would be a "cool" career change.

"It's a staple during football weekends," Young said. "It's a great location ... students who live in fraternities and live downtown keep the place busy."

Although Young said he could not see himself making a decision in such a short time, he said he would love to continue the Penn State history.

"I'm playing around with the idea," Young said. "But in a perfect world, I'd like to keep the business as it is and make sure it continues to be student friendly."

Tom said he and his wife, who are both Penn State alumni, would miss State College.

"It was a great experience ... just being part of downtown, and we always had friends and alumni that would come to visit us," he said.