Apr 5, 2007 11:29 am US/Central
Burger King Closes More Than 4 Months After Murder
Manager Was Killed In November; Convicted Felon Later Charged
By Frank Abderholden / Lake County News-Sun
LINDENHURST, Ill. (Lake County News-Sun) ―
The Burger King in Lindenhurst closed this week after the sales and customer count never rebounded after the murder of store manager Mary Hutchinson last November.
There are no immediate plans to sell or lease the property, according to Chris Ondrula, vice president of corporate affairs for Spence Group Services Inc.
"The restaurant was not a high volume one to begin with," he said. "Since the murder there has been a significant decrease in the customer count," said Ondrula, "The numbers weren't moving in a positive direction."
Interestingly, one of the best nights they had after the murder was Dec. 13 which pledged all the revenue raised that day would go to the family.
He said all the employees, 23 of them, were offered employment through the company's other stores.
The store had been in operation since August of 2000 and still looks like a brand new store. Ondrula said they did not expect the store to close and they tried promotions and advertising to no avail. "The customer counts were not coming back," he said.
"The logical conclusion was that there was a stigma attached to the store," Ondrula said.
James Ealy, 42, of Lake Villa was an employee and was arrested and charged with the murder of Hutchinson during an apparent robbery. Ealy allegedly kept a key after his last day of work, Oct. 25.
On April 22 the village of Lindenhurst will plant a tree on Earth Day in memory of Hutchinson, who was married and lived in Salem, Wis., with her husband and children.
(CBS 2 and the Lake County News-Sun are news partners covering stories in the north suburbs of Chicago. If you know of stories happening in this region,
Get breaking news alerts
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
