What are the plans for this popular Burlington County pub that's up for sale?
HAINESPORT – Kathy Dunleavy Chase came to a heartbreaking realization recently: it was time to sell her family business and move on.
Dunleavy’s Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge has been a popular meeting location and eatery since the late 1970s.
Chase and her brother Eddie Dunleavy started the restaurant. She became more and more involved as family members passed away.
“My brother and I started this in 1977,” she added. “It was a family affair — Mom, dad, Eddie and I and his three best friends. I was a schoolteacher. This was supposed to be something with my first husband, who prior to us buying this, passed away from leukemia, so I said I would be his (her brother’s) silent partner. After that, I did the flowers, and Eddie, my mom, my dad and I did other things around there.
"Then in 2000, my brother had a terrible accident and he couldn’t work really anymore. I took over. I hired people that knew exactly how to run a business and I kept it going. I retired from teaching in 2014, 2015. Now, I think I need to retire totally. I’m 75. I want to spend more time with the grandchildren, go places, I want to stop worrying.”
So, she put the restaurant, located at 1440 Route 38 on the corner of Route 38 and Lumberton Avenue, up for sale recently. Word travels fast these days with social media.
“It’s been hard ever since COVID,” she said. “Everybody’s struggling. I was ill and that scared me. I found out I’m ok. All this piled up on me. My accountant said 'you need to think about selling. You have to do this'. It was just like somebody told me ‘It’s time. It’s time to let it go Kathy.’ Maybe it’s my brother. He passed away in 2009.”
What’s next for Dunleavy’s Restaurant in Hainesport?
The interior of Dunleavy’s has a log-cabin atmosphere. There are padded booths, a moose head hangs from the wall, and there are bright, colorful stained-glass windows. A large U-shaped bar is a centerpiece. It is an Irish pub, after all. It has an old-school, comfortable feel to it.
Chase would like to ensure that whoever buys the restaurant will keep it as a family-run restaurant, hopefully, without much change.
One of her cousins may be interested in purchasing the restaurant, and Chase is hoping something works out, because she would love to keep it in the family. The other idea she had was to sell it to some of the young men who worked for her over the years, but they declined. Running a restaurant is a lot.
“They all said, ‘it’s just too much’,” she added. “So, we’ll see. It’s not sold yet. If it doesn’t sell, then I’m staying. I want to sell it to somebody that wants to keep it the way it is. It’s like a historical building. I’d like to keep it a family business the way it is. I don’t want to change anything.”
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It was her goal to stay in ownership until the restaurant hit five decades, but it wasn’t meant to be.
“I wanted to hold on until 50 years,” she explained. “It’s 46. Can I do it another four? I don’t think so. And neither of my daughters want to take over and they’ve been in the business since they’ve been 16. It’s the hardest decision. I made a lot of really heartful talks at night to myself. It’s hard because they’re so many memories and so many people that helped you along the way.
“Not only your employees, who become more like family to you, but your customers. I have two kids who their parents used to bring in when they were infants. Now, they’re 16 and 18 and they’re working for me. That’s how it’s been. It’s been really a family business from even the employees. Like everybody says, 'it’s Cheers, everybody knows your name'.”
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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: This Burlington County restaurant is for sale. What's next?
