JULY 29, 2010 ISSUE
Boone’s Mellow Mushroom Closing August 25
Previous Owner Pursues New Boone Franchise
Mellow Mushroom, located at 957 Rivers Street in downtown Boone, has been a popular destination for locals, students and tourists since opening in 1995. Photo by Anna OakesThe rumors have been circulating through the Boone and Facebook communities for months now, and at least one of them is true: the Mellow Mushroom on Rivers Street will be closing its doors on Wednesday, August 25.
Kristi Bunn, who along with her husband purchased the Boone franchise from Chuck Luddeke in March 2001, confirmed that the pizza restaurant will close because the restaurant’s lease of the property on Rivers Street was not renewed and because she could not meet the financial obligations required by the Mellow Mushroom corporation to relocate.
“Our lease was given to another franchise by the property owner,” said Bunn. Templeton Properties owns the property at 957 Rivers Street. Bunn said she began hearing rumors that Templeton was not going to renew the lease beginning last fall or winter. Bunn said she tried to contact Phil Templeton, owner of Templeton Properties, but Templeton would not respond.
“He would not communicate with us about it,” Bunn said. “We’ve had a contentious relationship with him for years.” Bunn said it was the Mellow Mushroom corporation (Home Grown Industries of Georgia, based in Atlanta) that informed the Boone franchise that the lease had been given to a different restaurant, Frankie’s Pizza. Templeton confirmed this in May, Bunn said.
When contacted by High Country Press, Templeton responded that he had no comment on the matter.
Bunn began to pursue relocation of the franchise and identified several prospective locations. However, after meeting with the corporate office in June, Bunn determined that the financial obligations required by the corporation were “unreasonable;” for instance, the company would have not allowed the franchise to use its old equipment at a new location.
“I could not find financing with that sort of risk after investing after nine years,” Bunn said. “I would be starting from scratch.
“It was my choice to not continue our relationship with the Mellow Mushroom,” Bunn added.
Founded in 1974 in Atlanta, Mellow Mushroom now has more than 100 restaurants in 15 states. The Boone franchise, which opened in 1995, was the first Mellow Mushroom to open outside of Georgia.
“We were the first franchise outside of the Atlanta/Athens area,” Bunn said. The restaurant currently has about 45 employees and has been a favorite of students, professionals and tourists for years.
Boone may not be without a Mellow Mushroom for long, however. Luddeke, the original owner of the Boone restaurant who owns the Mellow Mushroom franchise in Blowing Rock, is currently pursuing a new franchise in Boone.
“We have a tentative location. We’re waiting to get approval from corporate on that location,” Luddeke said. “The new location that we’re hoping to get is in the downtown area and approximately a block and a half or two from the current location.
“If everything goes according to plan, we hope to have it open before the first of the year,” he added. “It would be a shame to see it go.”
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