CLARKS SUMMIT -- One of Lackawanna County's oldest businesses shut its doors over the holiday weekend. Bunnell Hardware in Clarks Summit was coming up on its 103rd year but closed up shop suddenly.
Bunnell Hardware is as old as the street it was built on and borough it called home and in a blink of an eye the family-run hardware store shut down last week. Its owners didn't want to comment on the closure but a sign on the door says, after more than a century, they're moving on.
For folks in Clarks Summit, to say it's the end of an era is an understatement.
"It's going to be strange, I mean Bunnell's has been a staple ever since I can remember, I grew up around here. It's been a landmark for me with this business right next door," said Mari Walker, owner of Duffy's Coffee House on State Street.
Walker said she often shared customers with Bunnell Hardware over the past three years since she's been in business.
The Bunnells set up shop 103 years ago.
Bunnell Hardware was founded the same year as Clarks Summit borough. As Clarks Summit grew, Bunnell Hardware was always there to grow with it.
Barry Kaplan owns Everything Natural, another long-standing State Street business. Kaplan just started selling greeting cards of borough landmarks in his store; one depicting the Bunnell store front. Kaplan said it's sad to see them go, but a century in business is something many aspire to but few ever reach.
"They indeed have passed through several generations so I can only hope that we have those kind of legs," Kaplan said.
Bunnell Hardware has already closed its doors, owners are planning an auction for the end of the month.