Chick Inn Closed

Absolutely agree about the bridge! It needs to be fixed, and no question that businesses are hurting.

However . . .

Cunninghams is still packed most evenings, you can't get in to Captain's Quarters on weekends (although during the week they are not as crowded as before), and for almost a year now the parking lot at Chicken Inn has been empty (going back to even before the bridge was out). Restaurants close for various reasons, from improper financing to bad lease, problems with service or food, wrong location, on & on, and while certainly several contributed to demise of Chicken Inn we felt the main problem was the decline in the food.

Clearly weekday dinner traffic for those businesses is going to be way off- far less commuters on their way home ( many people no longer take the River route home due to the bridge and increased backups.) And not driving by daily also reduces "top of mind" when trying to decide where to go. We were at CQ early ( 5:30-6:00 ) Friday night and the dining room was largely empty ( but lots of folks at the bar).

I feel so bad for those business everytime I drive by...

Deb

No excuse for the bridge mess. I'm guessing it hurt their drinking business as much as anything.

And not much excuse for the food Chick Inn was putting out, either. We swore off the place more than a year ago, but tried it once more for breakfast a couple of Sundays ago. Simply awful. Not surprised to see it go under.

I'd love to see a good home-cooking place go in there.

Unfortunately this is the second restaurant to close down in a month on River Rd, Eva Mae's ( the small diner between Cunninghams and Chick Inn ) closed three weeks ago. Eva Mae's had building structure problems and other property issues they were dealing with. Sherrill has since leased property at the old Fischer's plant on Mellwood and soon will be re-opening.

When I first posted on Louisville Hotbytes I asked Robin if I could make the decision of shutting down the Harrod's Creek bridge and how the impact of local businnesses were going to be affected a topic to get awareness out.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4940&p=47901&hilit=harrods+creek+bridge#p47901

When Chick Inn reopened after the fire in 2002 the reviews were mixed with the food and overall ambiance, known for their fried chicken and side dishes alot of customers missed the old appeal of the original restaurant ( bar customers also ) and the food never met the expectations of past customers.
With that being said, Sharon whom purchased the restaurant several years ago could not of forseen that the bridge would be shut down for now what will be a little less than 2 years and seeing a steady decline in business that is over 30%.
I do not care what business you are in, if a major artery or your only artery of traffic is taken away from you, results are going to be negative.

http://www.wlky.com/news/20170347/detail.html

When the decision was reached to reopen the bridge in July the steel and supports that were designed for the structure went down to one of our Southern states for a similiar project because of the freeze in the courts thus delaying it more.

Like I stated before Riverfields is a special interest group that we support and need to maintain the waterways and ecological beauty of the impacts on the river and surrounding areas, but as you can see the results to local businesses and fellow industry peers on paper are not pretty.

The bridge is now set to open August 1st, with incentives and bonuses to road crews and engineers possibly mid July as we speak, and yes there will be a good ol' fashion "throwdown" when that day is reached here

Animal habits are tricky things to fool with. That section of River Rd was a beaten path for many. When the bridge closed all kinds of habits were interrupted and disturbed. Yeah I thought the food was kind of only so-so as well but it was still better than someplace like Cheddars which seems to pack them in. So I guess I come down on the side of the 'broken bridge' for being the main cause of their demise.

Forgive me I also failed to mention there was a substantial increase in the lease on the property where Chick Inn stands also

Correct. Someone mentioned an increase in lease property earlier; I'm not sure if they knew or was tossing it in as a possible reason. There was an article I read that mentioned a 40% increase. Their owner said they had been turning an ok profit, but this was the nail in their coffin.I'm not sure many places would be able to operate with a 40% increase in lease.

As a landlord I can say that an occupied building producing an income makes me happier than a vacant property producing nothing but bills.

scenario:
greedy landlord raises the rent by 40%, which knocks tenant out of the game. tenants been there a long time. now tenants have to leave or close up shop because no longer can afford rent. building sits empty.

nice amicable landlord raises rent to a reasonable amount. tenants happy and landlord happy, tenants stay, and can still turn a profit.
now which makes sense?

I'm sure the truth is a bit more complicated.