The Penn Hills landmark Labriola’s Italian Store will stay closed to the public and instead be used as a storage facility and kitchen, the owner announced on social media Oct. 5.

“We explored renovated space and new services, but in the end, we decided that the store will remain closed to customers,” wrote Leonard Labriola on the company’s Facebook page. “It will continue to be the center hub for the other stores. We deeply regret not being able to return to the original services, but we understand that with changing times means changing opportunity.”

Labriola’s parents opened the market in 1929 in East Liberty. When its customers moved to the suburbs, Leonard’s mother and father followed. The Penn Hills site was the first expansion, opening in 1969. Additional sites followed with the opening of the Aspinwall store in 1984 and in Monroeville in 2004. A fourth store opened in 2009 in Warrendale.

Labriola said the other three stores are fully operational and will continue to offer customers the foods and services expected. The Penn Hills site will act as the operation’s kitchen. From there, prepared foods will be delivered to the other stores, he said.

A customer tried to enter the Penn Hills store Wednesday morning to buy ingredients for Italian wedding soup while Labriola was at the site for an appointment with a contractor. Labriola informed her of the store’s closing. She was disappointed, but said she would visit another store.

“I love this store,” she said. “You have the best products.”

The pandemic meant losing some employees, Labriola said. But not because of layoffs.

“When it came time to reopen the Penn Hills store, we were unable to get everybody back,” he said. “We don’t have enough employees. It became a strain, so we decided to leave the store closed. But we’re fortunate to have the other stores operating at full capacity.”

Even with some employees leaving, the company employs about 100 people, Labriola said.

Labriola’s social media update to customers was sentimental.

“The sights, sounds, and smells of the Labriola Italian Stores are best captured in the Penn Hills location. It is here where you can see the boxes of inventory lining the aisles and piling up to the ceiling, where you can hear the greetings between our customers and staff as friendly family exchanges, and where you can smell the mix of the anise, Italian products, and baked goods that compose the signature aroma of Labriola’s,” he wrote.

He thanked the company’s loyal customers and reminded them of the market’s local delivery service through Mercato.com. Details can be found on Labriola’s website. The stores also offer curbside pickup.