NILES — A Sharon, Pa., institution is vacating its downtown storefront and heading to the Eastwood Mall.

Joe Bell, spokesman for the Cafaro Company, confirmed Reyers Shoe Store — founded in 1886 — will be coming to the center concourse of the Eastwood Mall.

Bell said the store, which prides itself in customer service and has been billed as the “World’s Largest Shoe Store,” has leased some 14,000 square feet in the J.C. Penney concourse of the mall.

The store will open in Niles on Aug. 1.

Steven Jubelirer, co-owner of the Reyers store with his brother Mark, said it “was with a heavy heart” the announcement was made about leaving downtown Sharon after 135 years there. He cited the dwindling number of customers coming to downtown Sharon.

“I grew up here, and it was a pleasure coming to work here every day,” Jubelirer said. “But we are making the move looking toward the future, and I hope it’s a bright future.”

Jubelirer said his father Harry, who came from Pittsburgh, bought the store from the Reyers family 68 years ago.

John Reyer, a German immigrant cobbler, opened the store in 1886, and the family business was handed down to his son Carl, who in the early 1950s sold it to the Jubelirers.

Reyers has been featured in Time Magazine, the USA Today newspaper, and The David Letterman Show, according to the company website.