ST. LOUIS — The Washington Avenue Post general store and grocery, long a downtown St. Louis staple at 1315 Washington Ave., is "temporarily closed," a sign on its door says.
"We appreciate your patronage and look forward to seeing you soon," it continued. It also directed "business inquiries" and questions to an email address, thelocalpostllc@gmail.com.
Reached Monday, owner Damir Simovic said he couldn't comment.
Sean McGowan, of McGowan Brothers Development, the building's landlord, said Post, which is located in the Downtown West neighborhood, "had been behind in rent."
He said his company hadn't yet had conversations with Post, and so didn't know its plans.
"It's just another casualty of the COVID," McGowan said, adding that "we need more people coming back downtown to get back to where we were."
Downtown has suffered without office workers and sporting events, and tourism officials say it's not yet clear when conventions will return, but that bookings are "robust" for the third and fourth quarters this year. A nearby bar that closed in December, Missouri Bar & Grille, said in addition to Covid, crime is a factor.
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