|
Read News
|
Pocono News Section
Molly Brannigans Closes in Scranton
Molly Brannigans Closes in Scranton - Monday, August 10, 2009 at 6:50PM EST
Reported by: Eric Deabill
Monday, Aug 10, 2009 @ 06:50pm EST
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY - Another business in downtown Scranton has abruptly closed its doors. Last week it was the Ground Round inside the Mall at Steamtown. This time, Molly Brannigans on Adams Avenue has shut its doors for good.
The locks were being changed at the once-popular business Monday afternoon. The bar & restaurant was once a known nightspot in the Electric City.
"Its awful. I'm Irish. This is an Irish place. I love it. They had a good business here, so it's terrible," customer Sandra D'Ambrosio said.
D'Ambrosio works in Scranton. She can't believe the building will not sit empty.
"It always seemed like there were people in and out of there. We would order out for lunch and we have a lot of people who work where I do," D'Ambrosio said.
Fergal O'Brien knows first-hand what the closing means. He was a part time waiter at the restaurant. He says employees weren't even notified of the closing by management.
"This was a shock. I got a text from another employee that said 'we're all unemployed.' I replied, 'what,' and my friend told me they had closed," O'Brien said.
When reached by phone, the owner of Molly Brannigan's says the poor economy is to blame. There just wasn't enough business. Molly's had been struggling with their rent. In March, the city lowered the restaurants rent, but recently it couldn't even pay that amount.
Workers blame competition as well as the economy.
"Too much competition down here. We don't have the traffic, the people, to support all these restaurants. If you put Kildare's on the other side of the Hilton, one's got to go. It's the law of averages," O'Brien said.
City leaders say there are already three other bars/restaurants that are interested in Molly Brannigan's location. | | |
|
|
|