Bye-bye, businesses

Two longtime Chico businesses—Clifford’s Jewelry and the Burger Hut on Nord Avenue—will soon shut their doors.

Clifford’s Jewelry owner Michael Hicks announced his impending retirement and the store’s closure via press release last week. The jewelry store was founded in Chico in 1898 by Charles A. Clifford, and has continued as a family business ever since. The store has yet to announce a closing date, but it is holding a retirement sale in the meantime.

Also closing is Chico’s original Burger Hut, which opened in 1978 and was purchased by current owner Jim Williams in 1983. Williams told KHSL-TV he is closing to spend more time with family, and because of the older store’s declining business and rising upkeep costs.

Burger Hut’s two other Chico locations—on Cohasset Road and Forest Avenue—will remain open. The Nord location was purchased by neighboring Star Liquors, which plans to bulldoze the building to expand its store.