STATE COLLEGE/CENTRE COUNTY, Pa — Stover’s Furniture in State College will be closing up shop after nearly 50 years in business...but the store’s owner says he’s not retiring.

Gary Stover, known by many locals as ‘Crazy Jake,’ is leaving furniture behind...but he’s not quite done with tables.

“It’s going to be hard but...I’m going to become a professional gambler,” he stated.

Stover says the pandemic and inflation have caused problems, and with his trusted colleague of many years leaving, he too decided to move on.

“My manager, she told me that she was going to move to Alabama in January, that made up my mind that it was time to quit,” he revealed.

The store is starting a blowout sale on Wednesday and he’ll close the store for good when everything sells out...that way he can move on to his true passion dating back to childhood.

“When I was eight years old, I had Rheumatic Fever and I had people come in my house cause I was bedridden, and then we played poker," Stover recalled. "I don’t know if they let me win or not but I won, you know, quite a few pennies back then.”

And while he’ll miss the people.

Definitely going to miss all of my customers, and people who come in to see me.”

You wouldn’t know it with his poker face.

“I could tell you a lie right now, and you would believe me but I’m lying to you,” Stover joked.

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