PEORIA – After more than 100 years, a downtown institution known for treats is scheduled to close Friday.

Jane Scott, who owns the Nut House on Main Street in Peoria, said she made the decision with a heavy heart.

"Trends change and so must we," she wrote on Facebook. "Look for us in the future at local farmers markets, local stores, festivals and such. Thank you to our dedicated customers that still remembered us downtown."

She told the Journal Star that downtown just doesn't have the foot traffic to sustain retail businesses. A sister store, Jane’s Sweet Addictions at Northwoods Mall, will remain open, she said.

Trading spaces:Downtown Peoria bar to shift operations to Friendly Valley for summer

That store will offer nuts and candies that were staples of the downtown store as well as gourmet popcorn. And Scott said she'll continue to show up at festivals and events where she hopes to "bring sweet treats to an event near you."

"Caterpillar keeps saying they are going back (to in-person work)," she said. "Month after month, they say that, and they are going back now on June 1, but that's just two days a week. The Spring Celebration has its attendance down this year. The food carts are down.

"There just isn't a retail presence in downtown," Scott said of the area off the riverfront. 

Lisa Miller, a Caterpillar spokeswoman, said the Peoria offices, including the Caterpillar Visitors Center, are currently open.

"However, we also encourage leaders and employees to work together to find the right balance of flexibility in order to meet business and individual needs," she said, while declining to elaborate further. 

Scott can trace the ownership back 85 years but believes the store has been open for more than a century. She believes that heritage is what kept it open during the pandemic.

"I try to compare it to owning a family farm and having that responsibility to keep it there for Peoria," she said. "If this was any other little store, I would have closed it a long time ago." 

She paused before saying, "There are no words. It's been a very hard decision."

The Nut House was previously located on the next block — at 427 Main St. — before changes (a 1987 fire at the Lehmann Building and the demolition of the Palace Theater a few years later) brought the store to its present spot next to the Apollo Theater in 1989.

More:Some buildings in Peoria skyline reach hundreds of feet into the air. Here are the tallest

She bought the business from its previous owner, Debbie Jackson, five years ago, believing she could pump new life into the business that had been in Jackson's family for 50 years. But then the pandemic hit, and "it slapped us in the face." 

Located across from the Peoria County Courthouse, the narrow little store with one aisle, surrounded by nuts and candy, will shutter Friday. It brings an end to years of midday excursions for courthouse denizens, lawyers and others who needed a sweet or salty pick-me-up during the day. 

One of those is Peoria County Circuit Judge Kevin Lyons, who is a frequent customer. 

"It's so painful to watch good things come to an end. It's like watching your grandma's house being torn down in the name of progress. Only, in this case, there is no progress. It's just the end of a very good thing," he said in a text message. "It was only open on Thursdays and Fridays during COVID and I don't think I missed a Thursday."

"But I've gone to the Nuthouse (figuratively and literally, I think) every week since I've been a lawyer," Lyons said.

More:Will food carts return to downtown Peoria for 2022? So far, it's unlikely

Scott, who didn't want to discuss the terms of her lease, is looking for someone to possibly take over the downtown location. In her Facebook post, she says that she's open "to serious inquiries only." But she's also open to the idea of possibly going the food cart route. Anything's possible, she says. 

The building's owner, Peoria attorney Tom Leiter, says it's been hard for everyone downtown. Also in the building is Cracked Pepper, which hasn't reopened since the pandemic hit. CxT Roasting, a local coffee shop, just opened back up. And Richard's on Main, the underground tavern that used to serve food until 4 a.m., remains closed. 

"Well, as you know, Richard's closed years ago. We had a new tenant for a very brief period of time and they went out of business not long after the pandemic started," he said.

More:Demand grows for Downtown Peoria housing. Here's what's driving it and what's coming next

It's a tough time for downtown retail, Leiter said, adding it reminded him of the downturn in the early 1980s when a recession hit Peoria.

But he thinks the city will come back. More people are living downtown and he thinks things will pick up – but when that will happen, he doesn't know.