A.B. Mann optometry on Main Street in Butler will close on Friday, and the building is to be purchased by Gilliland Vanasdale Sinatra Law Office, located next door.

When optometrist Andrew B. Mann came from New Kensington to hang a shingle on South Main Street in Butler, Joan Crawford had won the Academy Award for her portrayal of Mildred Pierce, Winston Churchill gave a speech at Westminster College in Missouri and Yogi Berra homered in his New York Yankees debut.

Now, 73 years and many thousand spectacles later, the office doors where Andrew examined the eyes of his first patient in 1946 will shutter one last time.

Joel Mann, Andrew's grandson and son of the late Archie Mann, who ran the business for many years, said he will work a few days this week, and then the familiar red letters will be taken down and the door locked this Friday.

At the helm for eight years Mann had one message for his loyal customers over the years.

“Thank you. I appreciate it,” he said.

While A.B. Mann may be closing, the building familiar to so many in the Butler community will not sit empty for long.

The next-door neighbors of A.B. Mann, Gilliland Vanasdale Sinatra Law Office, will soon expand their firm's space by purchasing the A.B. Mann building.

The deal is under agreement and will close by the end of the year, said Jennifer Gilliland Vanasdale.

This is an excerpt of a larger article that will appear in Friday's Butler Eagle. Subscribe online or in print to read the full article about why the business is closing and what the new owner of the building plans to do with the space.