The Yorktown Shoppe has closed after owner Linda Bennett and her husband were unable to negotiate a sale of the store due to the delayed release of a National Park Service document that would allow the building they occupy, the Burcher Cottage, to be bid upon by concessioners interested in using the space.
In order for the sale of the business to go through, Bennett said there would have to be a guaranteed future for the business in that location. Because the document has not been released, NPS could only guarantee a short extension of the current lease, which was not enough security for potential buyers. Bennett said there was a buyer interested in the business.
Yorktown’s Carrot Tree recently accepted a 12-month contract extension that allowed it to continue operating from the Cole Digges House. The restaurant was in a similar position to the Yorktown Shoppe, as the owners said they would have to shut down operations since the terms of a new contract would be too expensive to continue operation.
NPS allows concessioners to operate in buildings they own via concession contracts like the one extended for Carrot Tree. The release of a prospectus allows bidders to submit proposals for buildings in which they wish to operate. A prospectus is expected to be released for the Burcher Cottage sometime in the first quarter of 2013, said Ethan McKinley, the chief of concessions for NPS’ northeast region.
“We wanted a contract available with the terms of the next lease agreement so someone could buy our business and continue it,” Bennett said. “We decided to retire. We felt it was time that I joined my husband in retirement.”
The Yorktown Shoppe has been open since the 1960s, and Bennett has been involved with the store since the late 1980s.
“We’ve sold some of the merchandise,” Bennett said. “We have some other local businesses who are going to have some of the items on consignment. We’re continuing to look for other sources to find homes for it.”
Bennett said 99 percent of the products in the store were made in the U.S. The store sold items including hand-forged iron pieces, hand-made tin and glass items, colonial-era lanterns and other reproductions.
“There have been several people who have come in and said they were so sorry we were closing and burst into tears in the middle of the shop,” Bennett said. “We’ve had lots of sympathy, but it hasn’t generated any action.”
