16/04/2025
Friends, I donât know how to even begin to write this post. How do you write a goodbye for something that was never just a business?
This cafĂ© was my heart on a plate. My soul in a salad. My love letter to plants, the animals, and our community. And now, itâs time to let go. I am sorry to say that Culture Cafe will not be reopening.
Iâve wrestled with this for months. Tried every scenario to keep going. But Iâve been burning out quietly for a long time now. Despite my best intentions, I just canât carry it all anymore. My body has been in survival mode for far too long now & I donât want to wait until itâs too late to stop and recalibrate.
Running a small business alone is a quiet kind of storm. It costs so much more than money. You sacrifice rest, your health, clarity, relationships, sanity. This has been by far, my most challenging chapter. People form opinions, judge you, there are financial pressures no one can see or understand if theyâve not been there themselves, the weight of the world on your shoulders every single day & youâre stretched so thin that even breathing feels like a luxury.
But there is beauty, too. The people. You.
You who brought your babies (some that didnât exist when we opened!đ„°) , sent postcards, sat at the window every Saturday, you who told us this was your safe space, where you could just be yourself and feel welcome, those who said our food changed your life. You who came back week after week, who brought friends & family, who let us feed you through breakups, birthdays, pregnancies & grief. You who made us part of your lives. To the customers who became friendsâyou all made it worth it. You held us (me) up. And youâll never know just how much that meant to me.
To the beautiful team who came & wentâyou each brought something to the space that made it what it was. Thank you. Iâm sorry for letting you down when I have.
This winter just hit us too hard. With rising costs and a harsh economic climate, we simply couldnât come back from it. So, this is where our wee chapter ends.
Thank you just doesnât feel like enough.
Please know that Iâll carry you all with me, always.
To the local business community around usâyou welcomed us with open arms and showed us what it felt like to belong. That sense of support and camaraderie was something we hadnât experienced before, and it meant more than you know.
A few last notes, thereâs a fully equipped, ready-to-go cafĂ©. If youâve been dreaming of your own thing, please reach out.
And lastly, if I can ask one thing, please please support local cafĂ©s & businesses. Looks can be so deceiving, most businesses are not thriving and many are struggling on levels you just canât see- so please remember they can only exist if you support them.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for joining me on this journey.
With so much love & gratitude,
Ella đâ€ïž
