Oak Hill True Value, an institution in the Tower Grove South neighborhood for 86 years, is closing and selling its inventory and fixtures.

Owner Don Scherer, 68, who bought the store at 4100 Connecticut Avenue in 1975, is retiring, he confirmed Friday. Most inventory will be marked 25 percent off beginning Monday and the store will close before the end of the year, he said.

The 3,500-square-foot brick building at Connecticut Street and Oak Hill Avenue has been sold to a buyer who plans to convert it to residential use.

The hardware store opened in May 1931 as Edwin A. Morgan Hardware and changed its name in the 1950s.

Over the years, Scherer’s wife, Jill, and daughters, Katie and Emily, helped operate the mom-and-pop store, which drew customers from the neighborhood and beyond.

“The most difficult part of closing my business is saying goodbye to so many people who started as customers but became friends through the years,” Scherer said.

In recent years, however, fewer young people came in to make purchases for home repairs.