Perkins Location Next to Miller Hill Mall Closed

DULUTH, Minn. – After 37 years, Perkins next to Miller Hill Mall has closed its doors.

“It’s a sad day,” says owner Dillon Flaherty.  “I didn’t plan my 37 year career ending this way, but it has.  It just wasn’t sustainable anymore.”

Flaherty says a number of factors, from COVID to inflation to staffing, led to this decision.  “It’s not one little thing, it’s a lot of things piled up.  It’s getting harder and harder just to make ends meet.  At this point in my life I’m too old to start stacking debt, so it’s time to move on.”

The location was known to be a gathering spot for many organizations and groups.  Flaherty says he’s gotten to know many of the loyal customers who would either come on a weekly or monthly basis, or made it their stop to eat after traveling from the Twin Cities or Iron Range.  “A lot of them have texted, called, gone on Facebook.”

The process to clear out the restaurant began Monday, as most of the 35 employees came to help.  Some make the last cookies and muffins this location will see, giving it to people who came by and heard about the closing.  “Luckily, a lot of them saw some of their long time servers,” says Flaherty, “and they were able to give hugs and say goodbye.  That’s part of what makes it so sad.

Equipment, supplies, and some of the employees who were there are going to the other Perkins locations in Duluth, Superior, and Cloquet, which are owned and operated by Flaherty’s brother.  That makes Dillon’s decision a bit easier to handle.  “They’re like my family.  Most of them I see four to five times a week, and I’ll miss them.  But I’ll stay in touch.  I’m not leaving town.”