PLEASANT VALLEY — Little more than a year after it re-opened for business, the Pleasant Valley General Store has closed once again.
The store, which sits at the corner of River and Ripley Hill roads, shut down unexpectedly earlier this month.
Jim Parrott, who also owns the Swingin’ Parrott Pub in the Ledgebrook Plaza on New Hartford Road in Winsted, blamed a variety of factors for the store’s closing.
“We closed up because of the economy and due to the wonderful way the state of Connecticut treated us,� Parrott said, with sarcasm in his voice. “The business was paying the bills, but that’s about it.
“Thanks to the state, we could not do anything without paying a fee,� he said. “To sell milk, we had to pay money to the state. To sell cigarettes, we had to pay the state a fee. Even when we sold aspirin, we had to pay the state a fee. We also paid a fee to get a beer license, but the state would not give it to us. I guess it’s because if you own a store and a pub in the same area you can’t get a license for the store.�
He said there were other reasons that the store closed that he could not go into.
Building owner Charles Lynes said he was taken by surprise when Parrott closed shop.
“He closed up one day around 4 in the afternoon and the store was empty by the next morning,� Lynes said. “He just emptied out everything in the middle of the night and took off. He didn’t even talk to me. He just got up and left.�
Lynes said Parrott still has a two-year lease on the store.
“He’s a little behind in the rent right now,� Lynes said. “Other than that, I’m talking to a lawyer. I won’t say too much more because I might get in trouble.�
Lynes added that he is putting the building up for sale.
Mimi Farkas, who owns Pleasant Valley Hair Salon in the same building as the now closed store, said she, too, was taken by surprise when the general store closed.
“The store was doing a lot of business,� Farkas said. “I’m still here running the salon, but since the general store closed the parking lot is not full and people now think I closed.�
The store first closed last year on Aug. 31 when the previous owner, Robert Bergeron, said he was forced into foreclosure because he could not meet monthly mortgage payments.
In a previous interview, Parrott said he planned to purchase the property after his lease was up.
