Don’t be fooled by those big signs announcing “Calling It Quits! Retirement Sale†on the sides of Johnson Bros. Furniture in Duluth.
Ditto for the “You Win! We lose! Calling It Quits!†banner in the front of the store at 1832 W. Superior St., with announcements of 40, 50, 60 and 70 percent off.
The furniture store, long a fixture on West Superior Street in Lincoln Park is not closing. Nor are the family-owned company’s other stores in Superior and Cloquet.
I checked it out in September when the signs first went up. There’s been a big sale going on there ever since. While the store manager I talked to then said the store was, indeed, closing, other store staff said they had not been given any notice that they would soon be out of jobs.
Skeptical, I tracked down owner Larry Johnson at the Cloquet store.
“None of the stores are closing,†he said.
And the big retirement? That would be his father, co-owner Don Johnson, who’s retiring at age 83.
But the 93-year-old business will go on.
If the store was closing, after three generations of operation, that would be news. But since it wasn’t, I let it go.
But people continue to be misled by the signs and wonder why the News Tribune hasn’t done a story on a longtime Lincoln Park furniture store closing.
Cause it’s not.
Located in the former Seasons restaurant building, at 1306 Highway 45, the restaurant offers traditional American fare, as well as a number of Italian dishes. The eatery was opened by Gary and Cindy Peterson of Esko. They formerly owned and operated the Congress Bar & Grill in Gary/New Duluth.
7:30 a.m.ceremony Wednesday, Aug. 19, at 1308 Hwy 33 South. Plan on 30 minutes for a presentation and ribbon-cutting.