Three cheers for Teena Browder and the Cork ‘n Bottle Liquor Store.
Last night at the Tenney Lapham Neighborhood Association meeting, they took a little time to honor Teena Browder and her years of leadership in the E Johnson St. shopping area and to honor the role her family store the Cork ‘n Bottle (855 E Johnson St.) has played in the neighborhood over the years. Unfortunately, Teena may never know that I wrote this, as she is notoriously opposed to using computers, but its worth writing anyways.
Teena Browder and Jim Wright were coming to the meeting to discuss plans to change ownership of the store. Teena Browder and her sister Connie Kaeser and their family have owned the store for 47 years. In short, they are a neighborhood institution. After all these years, they would like to sell the store to one of their employees, Jim Wright, who has worked there for 27 years. Teena and Connie will continue to work at the store and own the building, but the roles will be reversed in that Jim will be the boss and Teena and Connie will be the employees. Needless to say, the neighborhood didn’t have any concerns about this transfer of ownership, so they took the opportunity to turn the tables and honor Teena and her years of dedication to the neighborhood.
Champaign (purchased at the Cork ‘n Bottle and unknowingly hand picked by the Teena) professionally served by Jim and brownies all around. So, three cheers to the Cork ‘n Bottle, Teena and her familly and Jim and many, many, many thanks to being community leaders for so many years. And we look forward to phase 2. Best of Luck!
