Most afternoons, Saint's Café is crammed with students and professors, who fill every table in the shop with laptops, textbooks and coffee mugs.

This is just one example of State College's locally owned coffee shops, which continue to thrive despite the failing economy. Sales have remained strong, according to many local coffee shop employees in the area.

At Webster's Bookstore Café, 128 S. Allen St., sales have weathered the downturn.

"Our sales are actually up from last year," storeowner Elaine Meder-Wilgus said. "This community is incredibly supportive of locally owned businesses."

Larger chain stores haven't been so lucky.

Starbucks plans to cut 300 stores nationwide, though none are closing in town, according to the Starbucks corporate office. Despite lagging national performance in the industry, small businesses in State College have grown accustomed to doing well -- even during tough times.

"I have two of the most recession-proof items there are -- coffee and used books," Meder-Wilgus said. "But we're very lucky in this town. If you go to outside towns, you might not see this."

Saint's Café, 123 W. Beaver Ave., has had similar luck with increased sales, even as many consumers are tightening their budgets, the store's manager said.

"It seems everyone has a couple bucks for coffee," Patrick Reed, 'La Barista' and manager at Saint's, said. "Business has actually picked up from last year at this time."

Locals are driven to the mom-and-pop stores because they want to see their money filter back into the community, Jason Wiesinger said while sitting in Saint's. The large chains, like Starbucks, don't pose too much of a threat, he said.

"The regulars would rather come here because they'd rather support the community," Wiesinger, a lecturer in Penn State's nutrition department, said.

Irving's Café, 110 E. College Ave., has the "neighborhood feel but with the national brand" -- a characteristic that has kept the store filled with customers, shift manager Dan Tamburelli said.

"What we try to provide is the gourmet coffee shop experience, which Starbucks has done a good job of revolutionizing ... but with the spin of being able to really get engrained in the community," Tamburelli, (senior-marketing) said.

Many stores in the area have tried to shy away from the typical Starbucks image.

"I like Irving's because it's different," Staci Boretzky (senior-bio engineering) said, while seated in the café. "I feel like everyone else goes to either Starbucks or Dunkin' [Donuts], but here they serve smoothies and other things instead of just coffee."

With more than a dozen places to buy a cup of coffee on or near campus, the market is still developing, with two additional stores coming to College Avenue.

A second Dunkin' Donuts is coming to 432 E. College Ave. in late March, Scott Packer, manager of its location on 200 W. College Ave, said. Saxby's Coffee will also open a new location at 234 E. College Ave. during the summer, franchise manager Brian Whittaker said.

At the end of the day, there will continue to be a good market for local coffee because there's no substitute for fresh food or coffee, Tamburelli said.

Wiesinger agreed, noting all the food at Saint's is freshly baked -- just one reason why he is there every day of the week.