Low customer traffic led to the closure of the Aberdeen Salvation Army Store last week, according to Capt. Jonathan Harvey, the general secretary for all Salvation Army operations in the Northwest.

“I think we have had some concerns for some time in regards to the volume of people shopping at the store, and it had become kind of a financial strain,” he said. The stores are designed to bring income to the social programs the Salvation Army provides, “and when it wasn’t doing that we got to the point where we had to make a smart business decision.”

Harvey said nine employees had to be laid off when the store closed Sept. 14.

“That’s what makes the decision the hardest — the human element,” he said.

The offices above the now-closed store at 118 W. Wishkah St. house the organization’s social service programs “and will remain operating as they have done in the past,” said Harvey. “The community can expect to see those programs continue as they have in the past with no interruptions.”