Barr’s Hardware Monday closed its West Southern Avenue store in South Williamsport, bringing some of the employees to the store location at West Fourth and Rose streets.

Store owner J. Michael Barr said it was a matter of economics.

“A lack of business,” he said, adding he’d evaluated making the decision and contemplated the move over the past five years.

“We’re hoping a lot of our traffic comes across the river,” he said.

He said he also anticipated retaining seven employees.

Immediate plans are in the works to double the store inventory and to add another 20 percent of new merchandise, he said. He’s also planning to lengthen the hours of operation to better serve customers.

“We want to continue to be a hometown hardware store,” he said. “Personal service is the No. 1 priority.”

Barr and his wife, Kim, assumed ownership of the two stores in 2011 and maintain ownership of Barr Construction.

The family-owned business began 59 years ago, when William C. Barr and his wife, Dorothy, opened a watch repair shop that also sold magazines and candy in South Williamsport. As the business expanded into a hardware store, the couple moved to the Southern Avenue location.

At one time there were 10 Barr Hardware stores across the state, Barr said.