Loading...
The Lucknow Sentinel, 2016-08-31, Page 1The Luck www.lucknowsentinel.com n ow Se n $1.50 HST included PM40064683R07656 tine Wednesday, August 31, 2016 Darryl Coote/Reporter About 7,000 people converged in Lucknow last weekend for the village's largest event, the Lucknow Music in the Fields. From Aug. 25-27, 2016 country music fans listened to some of Canada's and the USA's most popular country musicians such as Tebey, the Lovelocks and Dean Brody (pictured). Lee Brice headlined the event. See story inside and online at lucknowsentinel.com Knechtel Food Market negotiations break down, closure set for Sept. 1 Darryl Coote Reporter Lucknow's lone grocery store has announced that it will be closing its doors Sept. 1, 2016, following a series of failed negotiations with its landlord. Knechtel Food Market made the announcement Aug. 26 on its Facebook page stating that 686687 Ontario Ltd., the landlord company, has notified the store of its intentions to seek a court order for the property to be vacated and the locks to be changed by that date. Brian and Kathy Knechtel, the owners of the grocer, say in the post that the closure is the result of the inability to "negotiate fair market rent" over the past several years. This is the second time this summer that the Knech- tels have announced the clo- sure of their store. In mid-July the store made a similar closure declaration. Brian had previously told The Sentinel that he is a one- third partner in 686687 Ontario Ltd. but would not name the other two parties. In the most recent Facebook message he names Bob Krupp as the company's act- ing president, secretary and treasure. He also names Ken Zurbrigg as the other partner. The Knechtels said prior to the first closure notice they had attempted to buy Krupp's and Zurbrigg's shares in the company through a dispute resolution process overseen by Kincar- dine's Jacques Law. How- ever, their offer was rejected and they were issued a Notice of Default on rent and told to vacate the property by the end of July. A matter of days later the Knechtels announced that an agreement over rent had been made with the landlord company and the store would remain open. The most recent Facebook message over the weekend states that deal had crumbled because: "the landlord insisted on a price even higher than the final offer which was presented to the Knechtels during the dispute resolution, as well as payment for all legal costs to date." The post reads that the majority shareholders are not be interested in further negotiations and will take over possession of the prop- erty on Sept. 1, 2016. The Knetchels also thanked the community for supporting them for 30 years. For updates on this story, visit www.lucknowsentinel. com