Signs of life return to Pickwick

• The Pickwick restaurant

The Pickwick restaurant in Duluth. (File / News Tribune)

Talk about it

After being closed since April 17 pending a sale, there are signs of life again at the Pickwick Restaurant in Duluth.

An electrician’s van was parked outside today. A few workers were inside.

A sign on the door says the restaurant is under restoration and will reopen in a matter of weeks. The restaurant’s new website, www.pickwickduluth.com, also announces that the Pickwick “will be back in action this summer!”

Tim and Amy Wright’s purchase of the restaurant from Chris Wisocki at one time was expected to close on April 19. But in early June, they were still waiting on some final paperwork and financing by their lender.

The sale had also been complicated by more than $82,000 in state tax liens against Pickwick, Inc. The liens — from unpaid withholding, sales and use taxes — had to be settled before the business could be sold.

The couple couldn’t be reached today to confirm their purchase of the restaurant had finally closed. But a worker at the restaurant referred a reporter to the Wrights to find out what was happening at the restaurant.

The sale marks the end of 90 years and four generations of Wisocki family ownership of the landmark Duluth restaurant at 508 E. Superior St.

Tags: news, business, food, restaurants