<table border="0" align="left" width="310"><tr><td><img src="http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/westport_front.jpg" border="1" align="left"></td></tr></table>Westport General Store is up for sale and will go on the auction block on April 11, proprietor Will Crawford said this week.
Crawford, who purchased a historic house and the old general store in tiny Westport on the River north of LaGrange in Oldham County and reopened the store as a restaurant 3 1/2 years ago, attributed the sale to family reasons - including a desire to spend more time with his two young children than the heavy demands on an independent restaurateur permit.
He called the move "bittersweet," and said the restaurant remains a thriving business and will continue in operation until the sale and closing, meaning that it will most likely continue under his management through Derby season.
The general store building, the business itself, and the largely renovated historic home, built in 1838, will be auctioned separately, he said; it's possible that one buyer could bid successfully for all three lots, or they could be divided. It's even possible, he said speculatively, that he could sell the business but retain ownership of the building, in essense becoming the new restaurant operator's landlord.
Full report on LouisvilleHotBytes.
