03/07/2025
Mike, one of the owners here. Probably much more of a silent owner as Ryan was much more involved. But, I wanted to say my piece.
This was sudden because reality kind of struck after we injected some cash (as we typically have to) to get through the winter.
Should not be a surprise to anyone that the cafe profits during boating season, and does not make money off-season. In the past we did well enough during the warm months to cover the delta.
This winter has been especially slow, not helped by weather, and the trend lines indicate that the profits from on-season will just continue to be eaten further away from off-season. We just can't operate a business that brings in a few hundred dollars of revenue per day during it's slow season.
We tried many things over the years to drive the numbers. Obviously, costs of goods has gone up significantly, and patrons were not happy with price increases. In the last couple of years, we have tried to move - as adorable as our spot is - we were immensely hindered by our location (in multiple ways - too much to get into here.)
There are other factors and the reality is that Ryan and I, who work very hard in other primary fields obviously, did not have the time to invest in the types of things that would really need to happen to avoid this. There are many things that I am sure we could have executed on much better but we were not present enough to make happen.
I especially may not have been present much, but I was extremely well aware of how hard our staff worked to keep this little thing moving. The money really wasn't there to reward them well enough for their hard work. Santana was the heartbeat, she treated it as her own baby truly, worked very hard and I was always so proud of how clean the shop was every time I popped in. Jessie worked her tail off and always had such a great attitude. All of the girls over the years - cared - and tried to make it the best experience for our patrons. I will always be proud of them.
For all of you that spent your hard earned money with us, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Deltaville has a special place in all of our hearts.
This could be the type of thing where the money makes much more sense if an owner/operator - one who can operate the shop themselves mainly during the off-season to limit overhead - can make this work. If there is any interest in that, please reach out, we will be an open book on the numbers.
Sorry to let anyone down - and thank you again for stopping by our little shop in the boating capital of the Chesapeake.
