Comp USA

Comp USA closed its Louisville operation quite awhile ago, and its former location remains desolate.

Amerigo

Amerigo bye-bye.

Previously, Harper's was in this location. Like Neil Diamond says, "That died too".

Music Go Round

The music goes round and round, and it comes out here... at the end of the road, the graveyard of American commerce, another empty building.

Wild Birds Unlimited

1969 South Hurstbourne Parkway: Another dearly departed store, with a poignant goodbye note etched in a font fraught with pathos, on the door...

Cherry House

Cherry House was one of the first furniture stores I visited when I moved to Louisville, so it made me especially sentimental when it was announced in January 2009 that they were closing their Louisville location at 200 N. Hurstbourne Parkway.

Last I heard, their original location in LaGrange, KY still exists and is now their home base, though I've not yet been by there to check it out.

According to an article in Business First:

"Whitehouse said the owners of Cherry House could not come to terms with property owners on a new lease agreement for the space at Hurstbourne Forum Center. The shopping complex is owned by Rubin Pachulski Properties LP, a Beverly Hills, Calif.-based commercial real estate firm.

Whitehouse also cited other economic factors in the departure, saying that tenants at the shopping center have seen increases in common-area maintenance expenses in recent years.

Officials with Rubin Pachulski Properties could not be reached for comment."

I find it very troubling that someone sitting in an office in Beverly Hills could have such an adverse affect on Louisville's economy, by refusing to haggle on rent for a major tenant that's been there for sixteen freakin' years. And apparently Cherry House isn't the only victim of obstinance: there are six other huge empty storefronts at Hurstbourne Forum Center right now, and they'll probably be sitting there gathering dust for quite some time to come.