The owner of one of Hopkinsville’s oldest retail businesses is temporarily closing her store amid concerns about the coronavirus and her observation that many people in the community “are not taking this seriously.”
Lee Ann Naghtin, who owns and operates the Fort Campbell Boulevard furniture store her late parents established in 1961, said the store is closing for at least two weeks. She stressed the closure is temporary.
She explained in a statement to the community:
“Herb Hays Furniture and Mattress we will be closing for 2 weeks or until we see where this COVID-19 journey takes us. As the owner of Herb Hays Furniture and Mattress, I am concerned about the safety of my staff and their families.
“I will hope and pray that this pandemic does not hit our community but as I look around our community, I have great fear. I believe so many people are not taking this seriously.
“Today as we end this week’s business and think about being closed for at least the next 2 weeks I can only hope that my customers will keep us in their prayers and be patient with us.
“We are NOT closing our doors forever!! I would ask that everyone watch our Facebook for announcements concerning our business. We can be reached by text, 270 886 8121, after today and we will be checking our answering machine. There will be a few of us in the office taking care of the day-to-day things that need attention.
“We have not closed since the 80’s when our sprinkler system froze and flooded our store. Thank goodness we don’t have the physical mess now that we had then. I think this has been much harder because I had to make the decision to close. The last time we closed the decision was made by the freezing temperatures!”
— Lee Ann Naghtin
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
