For decades, when Lehighton-area residents needed a thoughtful card or gift that was convenient, the Hallmark store at Carbon Plaza could make it happen.

"A lot of people didn't use it all the time, but when you needed a gift, you could come here," Pat Taschler of Packerton said.Last-minute gift-seekers will soon have to find another store.The current owners of the store, The Heritage Shop, have announced to customers that they are closing multiple locations in coming weeks, including the Carbon Plaza store.A liquidation sale began on Thursday - with all items in the store marked down.Stores in Hazleton's Laurel Mall, the Keyser Oak Mall in Scranton, and the Midway Shopping Center in Wyoming are also closing.The store was one of the original tenants at Carbon Plaza. It went through three owners over the years.A select group of store customers were sent invitations to get a first chance at the merchandise.It appeared many of them heeded the invitation. The line at the register Thursday afternoon snaked through the cards and down an aisle of novelty gifts.Some customers reported waiting as long as an hour to pay for their items."I didn't hear anything about it until I got the letter yesterday. Evidently a lot of people got letters," Jean Niehoff joked.Despite the wait she was smiling as she left the store with large gift bags for a church project that she got at a discount.Shelly Zellers of Lehighton was stocking up on cards for upcoming holidays."You can never have too many cards," she said.She was one of many customers who, in a panicked search, found a last-minute birthday gift or Christmas ornament at the Heritage Shop."This was always a go-to place, you could always find a gift at the last minute," Zellers said.