Sweet Southern Soul bids farewell

1 comment December 30th, 2008

The latest effort to bring a soul food restaurant to College Avenue didn’t stick. Judy Johnson, the maven of River District Catering, opened Sweet Southern Soul in the Campus Square shopping center at College Avenue and Seminary Street on Sept. 3. She’s closed the restaurant, however, saying that the economy and negative perception of the neighborhood as crime-ridden were too much for her to overcome.

“We never could get it up and running,” she said.

Johnson’s catering business is still operating out of the former restaurant location, and she’s turning to new uses for the space. First, she’s renting out the kitchen on a part- or full-time basis to people who may need commercial kitchen space but don’t want to go to the expense of setting one up. Second, she’s renting out the dining space for meetings, wedding receptions and other social gatherings.

“We’re trying to figure out how to take the things we have in place and figure out new ways to market and use them,” she said.

Grocery store to close

Add comment December 18th, 2008

Local grocer Gray’s IGA is closing its location at 11th Street and Sandy Hollow Road. According to WREX, signs at the store tell customers they need to find a new place to shop. Employees aren’t sure if they will be offered jobs at other Gray’s locations.

The store’s last day is Dec. 27.

Farewell, Firefly. We hardly knew ye.

2 comments December 15th, 2008

For nearly 70 years, the Mayflower was a fine-dining staple on North Second Street in Loves Park. Since the original Mayflower closed in January 1999, several restaurant groups have tried and failed to build a succesful business in the still-stylish building. The latest effort, the Firefly, closed earlier this month and the building is back up for lease.

Here’s the timeline of the Mayflower evolution:

• The Mayflower was open from the early 1930s until January 1999
• Reopened Nov. 1, 1999, by Todd LaMere as LaMere’s Mayflower.
• Todd LaMere changed the name to LaMere’s North in October of 2000 but closed abruptly in May 2001.
• In May 2002, the owner of the Morning Glory Restaurant reopens the Mayflower under its historic name.
• Sometime between 2002 and 2005 there was The  Cave, a NASCAR-themed restaurant that escaped Register Star attention.
• In 2005, it reopened as JRichard’s Mayflower and closed in July 2007.
• This January, the Nuttall family bought the building – all the other attempts were leasing the building – with a menu leaning toward healthy eating.