Boutique: Smell Of Barbecue Next Door So Bad, We Have To Close
LA GRANGE, Ill. (CBS) -- Barbecue may make your mouth water, but the owners of a LaGrange boutique say it's raising such a stink that it's prompting them to shut down.
As WBBM Newsradio's Bob Roberts reports, Michael LaPidus, owner of Q BBQ at 70 S. LaGrange Rd., says he's trying to be a good neighbor.
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"It doesn't do me any good to fight with my neighbors. It does me good and my business good to get along with everyone," LaPidus said.
But Honor Lorenzini, owner of Urban Sole Boutique next door at 72 S. LaGrange Rd., says the barbecue smell has permeated the clothes on its racks, costing them business and prompting returns.
"Let's say you have 30 customers a day. I would say 20 of them commented on the smoke smell," Lorenzini said.
Management at Urban Sole says the odor of barbecue smoke has permeated their clothes, shoes and shop so severely that they have decided to shut the store down.
""Basically, everything just went downhill ever since we've had the problems with Q," said Urban Sole manager Colleen Clark, "and, you know, when every customer that comes into the store says something, you can't ignore it."
LaPidus says he has raised smokestacks and put in a pricey exhaust system voluntarily. He adds that management at Urban Sole should not be blaming him for the fact that the store did not work out.
"Maybe your business plan didn't work and you should look in the mirror -- and I think that's what's going on right now," he said. "They're trying to blame other people for some of their shortfalls."
Lorenzini closed a second store in Hinsdale several years ago, and now says she wishes she had kept that store open instead.
