Picayune Item:
The debate and controvesy involving whether or not Picayune should sell liquor by- the-drink continued to roil and generate charges and countercharges.
A franchisee representative, Chris Potter, real estate and development director for Quality Restaurant Concepts, the company which owns the rights to establishing an Applebee’s restaurant here, says that the fact that Picayune does not have a liquor-by-the-drink law here had no bearing on his company not locating a store here. He said the decision to back off was strictly because of a weak economy.
However, the local real estate developer, Robert Thigpen, who said he had talked to a man who represented himself as being a representative of Applebees and other large chains, stood by his story that the representative backed off when told Picayune did not serve liquor, only beer and light wine. Thigpen owns Top of the Hill shopping center at I-59 and Sycamore Road. Read more.
