HAWLEY -- A grocery store can easily become a way of life for any community, so it can be disappointing when one closes.
The shelves at the Hawley IGA Market are looking more and more bare every day. What customers don't take to the checkout counter employees are boxing up, getting ready for the store's last day on Saturday.
"This is really a surprise to me," said Gerald Kathalynas of Hawley.
The store that's been across from Bingham Park for decades is now sold.
Owner Jim Shook said the store had been in the red for the past couple of years and the new owners plan to turn the place into retail space.
"The hardest part was telling the help. Making the decision to close was fairly easy. Living with the decision and working through it is very difficult," said Shook.
There has been a grocery store at the same location in downtown Hawley for more than 50 years. Once the sale is done, the former ACME, Dutch's Market, and now IGA will be something other than a grocery store. That means people who walk to pick up their groceries won't be able to anymore. They will have to drive to another IGA location close to Lake Wallenpaupack.
"At least I can drive. The elderly that walk over, I feel sorry for them," said Rosemary Biskupek of Lakeville.
Biskupek has noticed the empty aisles and quiet cash registers at IGA, but she's also relied on the Stephens Pharmacy located inside the IGA for medications.
"It was a terrible shock. I shop at Stephens all the time. I always do shopping in here. It's just a big blow."
The pharmacy will stay through October for its customers and will look for a new home.
"It's a loss for the town. It's upsetting to everyone," said Paige Corso, whose family owns the pharmacy.
As many as 18 full and part-time employees will be out of work when the grocery store closes this weekend.