07/31/2026
With heavy hearts, we’ve made the incredibly difficult decision to close Hawkhouse. ❤️
This isn’t the ending we hoped for.
We’ve gone back and forth on how much to share because we know there will always be opinions about what we should have done differently. The truth is, there are certainly things we would change if given the chance. Every business owner could say the same. But we also believe transparency matters, and we want to share our story rather than allow speculation to tell it for us.
When we introduced our coffee program in January, something exciting happened. January and February outperformed the previous two years in revenue. For the first time, it felt like we were gaining real momentum.
Then the war started and the economic landscape changed. Like many small businesses, we experienced a noticeable decline in customer demand while food costs climbed. As a newly acquired business still navigating a transition, that slowdown came at a particularly difficult time.
At the same time, we spent months trying to find a suitable replacement for our long-time lead cook after multiple hiring attempts. We knew buying an existing business would come with challenges, but we didn’t anticipate losing such a key team member so early in the transition.
Finally, several major pieces of equipment began failing. Faced with significant repair and replacement costs on top of everything else, it became clear that continuing was no longer the responsible decision.
No single challenge closed Hawkhouse. It was the combination of all of them.
Because we’ve seen some speculation online, we’d also like to share a little more context.
Hawkhouse was never intended to be “run by teenagers.” From the beginning, our vision was to build a strong team with capable managers and experienced adults while also giving local teens meaningful opportunities to learn responsibility, customer service, teamwork, and work ethic. As staffing needs changed, we continued hiring adult managers and cooks. Our younger employees were an important part of our team, but they were never expected to carry the business on their own.
We’ve also seen comments suggesting we weren’t invested because we weren’t physically present every hour of every day. The opposite is true. We aren’t chefs like the amazing Joe and Wendy — we knew that going in we could never replace them. That’s exactly why we worked to surround ourselves with capable people. Our role was intentionally focused on leading the business behind the scenes. We handled hiring, payroll, bookkeeping, scheduling, marketing, vendor relationships, equipment repairs, finances, marketing, planning, and the countless responsibilities required to keep a small business operating.
Anyone who has owned or managed a restaurant knows that much of the work happens long before the doors open and long after they close. Much of it is never visible to customers.
The reality is that independent restaurants operate on incredibly slim margins. Many owners rely on additional sources of income because restaurants alone often aren’t enough to support a family. Before we ever purchased Hawkhouse, we already owned and operated other businesses, and I was already pursuing my graduate degree to become a licensed mental health counselor. None of that was hidden. We also have four young kids to take care of. It was part of the plan from the beginning. Our vision wasn’t to stand behind the counter every day. It was to build a business with strong systems, capable managers, and a healthy culture that could serve the community well.
We also knew we were taking on a unique challenge. We purchased an existing business, rebranded it, expanded the menu, introduced a coffee program to improve margins, and did all of this in a location that could not offer alcohol sales, which many full-service restaurants depend on to help offset the very slim margins on food. While the coffee program showed encouraging early results, the combination of declining customer demand, staffing challenges, and equipment failures ultimately became more than the business could sustain.
Did we make every decision perfectly? Absolutely not.
Did we care deeply about this business, our employees, and our community? Without question.
To our employees…
Thank you.
The HAWK values weren’t just words to us. Hospitality. Attitude. Work as One. Kindness.
So many of you lived those values every single day. You served customers with genuine care, supported one another through difficult seasons, and represented Hawkhouse in ways that made us incredibly proud. Thank you for believing in what we were trying to build.
To our customers…
Thank you for choosing local. You may not realize what an impact it makes until a small business has to close down.
Thank you for celebrating birthdays with us, bringing your families for ice cream, grabbing your morning coffee, meeting friends on the patio, praying with us, encouraging us during hard seasons, and making Hawkhouse part of your lives.
Small businesses are often judged by what people can see from the outside. What isn’t always visible are the countless early mornings, late nights, difficult conversations, financial risks, repairs, payroll worries, staffing challenges, and prayers happening behind the scenes. We don’t share that to ask for sympathy. We simply believe it’s part of the story.
While this chapter is ending, we don’t believe it was wasted.
We learned more than we ever imagined. We built friendships that will last a lifetime. We watched kindness happen every day. We saw employees become leaders, customers become friends, and our community rally around one another.
For that, we will always be grateful.
A few practical notes as we begin this final chapter:
🍦 We’re not quite done yet. Over the coming days, we’ll announce special “sell-out” days as we work through our remaining ice cream and coffee. We’d love the chance to serve you one last time.
🎁 Gift cards will continue to be accepted toward ice cream during our remaining days while supplies last.
❤️ Our Pay It Forward Wall has always represented the generosity of this community. To honor that generosity, all remaining Pay It Forward cards will be redeemable for ice cream during our final days.
We’ll continue sharing updates as we finalize our remaining schedule and details. If you have a question that isn’t addressed in those updates, please feel free to send us a private message. We may not be able to respond immediately as we navigate this transition, but we’ll do our best to help.
Thank you for allowing Hawkhouse to be part of this community.
We don’t know exactly what the next chapter holds, but we do know this. God has been faithful through every high and every low, and we trust He will continue to be faithful in what comes next.
With grateful hearts,
Kaitlyn & Glen
