Local residents will have one fewer choice for their furniture shopping needs at the end of the year.

Goldberg's Furniture, a Syracuse-based retail chain, is closing its Auburn store as part of a move toward consolidation, Vice President Andrew Goldberg confirmed Tuesday.

Goldberg said that the company will also close stores in DeWitt and Oswego and move its entire business to a single location in North Syracuse in response to fuel costs and a slowing economy.

The stores will be closed by the end of the year.

Goldberg's has sold furniture in the greater Syracuse area since it first opened in North Syracuse in 1910, according to the company Web site.

The Auburn store is located on Grant Avenue.

Before it was Goldberg's, Traub's Furniture built the store in the mid 1970s.

According to The Citizen archives, the store temporarily closed due to flood damage before re-opening in 1999.

Staff members at the Auburn location Tuesday said the store manager was out for the day. Employees said they could not comment on the pending closure.