Back Home Is For Sale But Not Closing + a 2nd Hampton Inn

Key Takeaways

• Back Home IS for sale but is NOT closing — the owners intend to hand it to a next-generation owner and keep it running
• Dodge's Chicken in Muldraugh was NOT bought out by Casey's, confirmed by a post from one of their own leaders
• The Elizabethtown planning commission was set to discuss a second Hampton Inn at Prospect Point; brand, size and approval are all unconfirmed
• The Blue Door is open on West Poplar, evenings 5 to 8, with arts, crafts, trivia and painting
• Fly2Fit holds its grand opening party Friday, 6 to 8 PM, and Sierra Trading opens Saturday at the mall

Summary

Two pieces of bad news had been circulating in Hardin County, and neither one turned out to be true. Nate Bryan spent the top of Business Buzz putting both to rest: Back Home is for sale but is not closing, and Dodge's Chicken up in Muldraugh has not been bought out by Casey's.

From there the segment turned to growth. A second Hampton Inn was on the Elizabethtown planning commission's agenda, three businesses are opening this week, and the corridor off the Texas Roadhouse side keeps adding hotel rooms.

Nate was careful about what is confirmed and what is not, and this article keeps that line where he drew it.

Full Article

There is a particular kind of Hardin County rumor that spreads because people care about the place. A beloved restaurant shows up in a listing, somebody screenshots it, and by the end of the week half the county has decided it is closing.

Nate Bryan came into Business Buzz this week with two of those and knocked both down.

The first was Back Home. "Back home, yes, it is for sale," Nate said. "It is not closing anytime soon. Don't worry. Our hot brown is staying." People had seen online postings, and Nate had seen it listed in a magazine himself. The actual plan, as he explained it, is that the owners want to eventually retire, but they want the restaurant to continue: sell it, keep it going, hand it to the next generation of owner.

The second was Dodge's Chicken, the gas station chicken counter in Muldraugh that generations of Hardin County drivers have stopped at on the way to Meade County or West Point. The rumor was that Casey's had bought them out. "That's not happening," Nate said. One of their own leaders made a post saying so, and Nate has the screenshot.

Then to the growth story. The Elizabethtown planning commission was scheduled to meet that night to discuss a second Hampton Inn at Prospect Point — the lots at 1010 and 1020, sitting between Cecilian Bank and the former Etown Swim Club property. Nate was clear about the limits of what he knows. The brand is not confirmed; it may not stay a Hampton Inn at all given the existing location, and could shift to another flag in the same family. He and Phil are working on getting the planning agendas directly so they can report the size, the stories and the actual shape of the building rather than guessing at it.

What is clear is the pattern. Residence Inn is headed to that area, Springhill Suites is going in nearby, and there is already a trampoline park and a movie theater down the road. "They tend to come in clusters," Nate said, pointing to the Southside and the Loop as the county's earlier examples. With Kroger, 2B Thai and Heavenly Ham right there, and the interstate five minutes out, he expects more hotels to follow.

Three openings round out the week. The Blue Door sits on West Poplar, next to the Van Gogh Airbnb, with easy parking at the St. James lot and a short walk downtown. It is open evenings from 5 to 8 and stocks arts and crafts and home goods, with trivia, coloring and painting nights. Fly2Fit has been running classes already, but its official grand opening party is Friday from 6 to 8 PM with food trucks on site. And Sierra Trading opens Saturday morning at Towne Mall — or, as Nate put it, what is left of Towne Mall before it becomes City Center, which he says lands around October 1.

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