The decision to close comes after the announcement that the Kaufman building, right next door to Meyer Jonasson, will be demolished next month.

And officials on Tuesday were assessing another building that houses three businesses on 11th Avenue. Although the owner of the building said there are no plans to put the building up for sale right now, store owners in the building said they're nervous about what might happen.

Donald Brett, owner of Meyer Jonasson, said, downtown stores, like his store, struggle financially.

"There's really not much shopping downtown, but I think that's the nature of any downtown anymore. It's very hard to compete with the the outlets and the suburbs and the huge stores," said Brett.

Downtown revitalization is a top priority for many city officials, but some store owners said they're not sure if the revitalization effort has hurt them or helped.

"Nobody gave us anything. In fact, when they did the remodeling for three months, it was hard to even stay open," said Darlene Musselman, owner of Darlene's Kid Shop in downtown Altoona.

City officials said although they're surprised and disappointed by the closing of Meyer Jonasson, they're still hopeful. They said the recent changes to downtown are not necessarily a bad thing. They have big plans for the downtown, they said. And they're working with the owner of Meyer Jonasson to find new tenants, who might blend well with those plans.

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