A longtime family owned business is closing its doors.
Covino Home Furnishings, 1201 Pleasant Valley Blvd., will close its doors following a going out of business sale set to begin in mid-May.
"Susan and I have thought this over for quite a while and decided now is the time. We'd like to spend more time with the kids." co-owner Jim Covino said. "We will retire from the business. This is not an easy business to be in today."
The Covinos' two children - son Nick is a professional golf teacher in Naples and daughter Tara is attending pharmacy school in Sarasota - are in Florida.
The family business was started as Covino Catalog Sales Agency and was founded by Al and Betty Covino - Covino's parents - March 25, 1971, at Sixth Avenue and 40th Street with the purchase of the Montgomery Ward catalog franchise in Altoona.
They later purchased a former furniture location at 2100 Sixth Ave., and after extensive remodeling, Covino Home Furnishings was opened Feb. 1, 1979.
The business moved to its present location, the former Hanover Bostonian Shoe Outlet, in 1992.
The store is closed to complete inventory prior to the going out of business sale, which will be handled by a local company which Covino would not disclose.
"We have always tried to give back to the community so we will be giving people some good deals," Covino said. "We want to thank our customers for years of local patronage."
Covino said his nine part-time employees have either retired or found other jobs.
Covino said he plans to lease the 14,000-square-foot building to an undisclosed business which will be moving in around mid-July.
