Connie’s has closed. Again.
The once-popular downtown bar and restaurant shut its doors Saturday May 21, after just eight months under owner Rick Lucarelli.
Lucarelli took over the restaurant last September, after the previous owners closed it last June amid a business dispute.
Connie’s is a local landmark in Derby. It has been on Elizabeth Street since 1985.
Business at Connie’s just wasn’t profitable, Lucarelli said. He was barely pulling in enough money to cover his $6,000-a-month rent.
Lucarelli said he had sank about $80,000 into the venture, including repairs and renovations to the building, and decided to cut his losses.
Lucarelli said he expected to make $18,000 a week at Connie’s, based on statements from building owners Anthony Staffieri Jr. and Paul Staffieri.
He said he tried to get the rent lowered, but the owners wouldn’t do it.
Voice mails seeking comment were left Tuesday and Wednesday with the Staffieri brothers.
The last year hasn’t been good for the restaurant.
Former Connie’s partner Jeff Hughes has a civil lawsuit pending against the Staffieri brothers and their father, Mayor Anthony Staffieri.
Hughes claims he was wrongfully ousted from the partnership. That lawsuit is pending in Superior Court in Milford.
Hughes’ brother is Ken Hughes, president of the Derby Board of Aldermen.
Lucarelli said he is now focusing on his other business, Lucarelli’s, a popular Italian restaurant at 656 New Haven Ave.
