By Nathan Domenighini Updated Aug. 13, 2008 @ 12:16 pm Morton, Ill. — The owners of Lindy’s Downtown Market in Washington have opted not to pursue a location in the former Rocke’s retail shop on Adams in Morton. Co-owners Jim and Bob Linsley made the decision last week. “We’ve spoken with Rocke’s,” Jim Linsley said Tuesday. “They have been absolutety wonderful, gracious and accomodating.” “It becomes a space issue,” Linsley said. “It wasn’t cost effective.” A lot of restructuring inside the former Rocke’s facility would have been too costly, he added. He also cited rising costs as a deterrent. “It’s too expensive,” he said. “For small businesses, there is constant pressure being applied,” Linsley said. He said running a small business has become more difficult as wages and other areas increase in cost. “Everything has to make sense,” he added. For now, “We’re going to sit back and let the dust settle.” The Linsleys made the decision before receiving a letter from a resident saying that the reason Morton is adding wine and beer sales in grocery stores is to attract Lindy’s. The letter alluded to a possible behind-the-scenes effort among village officials to attract Lindy’s through the addition of wine and beer sales at grocery stores. Linsley, who was annoyed by the letter, brushed it off as a ridiculous response. He said it does not affect his view on the Morton community as a whole. That mentality did not have an effect on the decision, either. Morton mayor Norm Durflinger announced an interest in adding wine and beer sales to grocery stores during his 2007 state-of-the-village speech. That was before there was any interest from Lindy’s to come to Morton. Linsley, 58, who is an active donor to the Morton Community Foundation, said age may be catching up to him, too. He said that played into the decision not to come to Morton. “I’m too old,” he said. “Maybe I’m getting lazy.” The Washington business is celebrating its 50th year, he added. “We’re becoming more comfortable (in Washington).” “We thought we could go into Rocke’s,” he added. “We did our due diligence.” The decision against bringing the popular specialty food grocery store to Morton was difficult, Linsley said. “It breaks my heart,” he said. Linsley said he would have loved to have the store in Morton. One of the reasons the decision was tough was the people, whom he said deserve another option to buy groceries. “Morton is a wonderful community,” he said. “It is a town of people who appreciate quality — understand quality.”
Posted on: Sat, 03 Aug 2013 15:30:53 +0000
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