Country Inn has new owners

Meet Katie Hayton and her siblings, Amy Schwab and Dan Senff. They, and their spouses, are the new owners of the La Conner Country Inn. Sales papers were signed Dec. 1, Hayton told the Weekly News in an interview Sunday.

The new owners know La Conner real estate and business well. Their grandfather owned the Second Street block the Country Inn is on and the AGA grocery store on the Swinomish Channel at Morris Street. Seaport Books, handmade la conner and other businesses are in the enlarged and rebranded Seaport Landing building.

Hayton advanced from marketing assistant to sales director for owner Rick Thompson’s Channel Lodge and Country Inn properties; she also owns the Ice Cream Tower on North First Street. In 2018 she left for a position with Hotel Services Group, managing marketing for their Burlington Hampton Inn and Candlewood Suites. She said she “knew I would always come back,” a journey started a year ago with discussions to buy the Country Inn

Thompson, for his part, was ready to sell. He and his partners, Jim MacLean, Tom Whyte and Dunlap Towing, had decided to sell both hotels in 2019.

“We were all getting up there in age,” he said, “and none of our kids were interested in taking over.”

The coronavirus pandemic changed their strategy to offering either location. At a fortuitous meeting between Hayton and Channel Lodge staff, Hayton learned she could buy the Country Inn.

Negotiations between a willing buyer and a willing seller commenced. Thompson said the two sides came up with a number that made both parties happy, splitting the price difference.

“The important thing is that my dad bought the original property from Katie’s grandfather, Gene Senff.” Thompson recalled after World War II Senff bought a Quonset hut two duplexes and a cabin from the Whidbey Island naval base to the Second Street site. Thompson, his father and partner, in 1977 “were trying to decide what the best thing we would be and we thought lodging was a good bet; La Conner was developing as a tourist town,” he recalled.

“We are so happy Katie bought it; it will be in good hands. We are turning over our baby. She understands the history and the culture of the place,” was Thompson’s blessing.

Hayton’s family has come full circle. She told the same story of her grandfather selling the block to Thompson’s dad. Now, “essentially my family bought it back.”

That is a history she learned while conducting marketing research as Thompson’s staff years ago.

Calling themselves the Legacy Group is a nod to that history Hayton said.

Her siblings and parents agreed the purchase was a great opportunity, not at all crazy. Thompson’s group had a selling price already in mind. “COVID didn’t scare us off. It did not slow down our plans, “Hayton said.

The changes coming in the new year will be slow and steady, Hayton noted. Changes will be cosmetic. she said, with their soft rebranding bringing in new colors and a logo update.

Staffing will remain the same, with additional help brought on due to splitting from the Channel Lodge. “We will produce jobs, not take them away,” she stressed.

Hayton will manage operations, taking on the title of general manager, with her family taking background roles.

She is excited about new partnerships in the valley that will result in new guest packages.

The Palmers will continue to lease the space on Washington Street for The Oyster and Thistle restaurant.

"For us it is really exciting coming back to La Conner,” she said. “When I come into La Conner I feel good, lighter.”

For the 38 year old Hayton, this is a long term investment she has spent years building towards. Now that she has shaped her family into the Legacy Group, “We are not going anywhere,” she says.