11/06/2025
Hello Everybody, this is Mike
Last winter, I promised myself and my family that I would give Odd Dog one last big 2025 push, and then we would decide the future of the business based on how the year went. While I'd say 2025 was one of our best years, as with so many other in the hospitality industry, it still wasn't enough. With that being said, it is sadly time for us to close the business and cease our operations. Our last two days of business will be Friday, 11/7 and Sunday 11/9. I can not be there in person on either day, but I hope you'll come visit us on our last two days for your last latte and biscoff.
Odd Dog started as a Plan B for me - I'd spent the first 15 years of my professional career wondering if sitting at a desk underneath fluorescent lighting for a living was really for me. Having an entrepreneurial venture created a fallback plan - if I ever got caught up in layoffs, or just wanted to walk away from Corporate America, I would become a local merchant - talk to real people out in the neighborhood and establish roots in a local community. Maybe I'd wear an apron and take on a nickname. Once M.E. and I had Quinn, I suddenly started to panic - I had just dove into a venture that took me away from our house for full weekends, and suddenly I realized I'd just gifted myself a 7 day work week; 5 days in the office, 2 days at The Walt, with the prospect of parenthood pulling my heart in a completely different direction. That prospect moved my family and I down to Akron to be closer to Quinn's extended family, even though we had so much going on for us in the incredible community of University Heights. And also, out of nowhere, I found my groove at my day job, where I'll celebrate my 20 year anniversary fairly soon.
I have been so lucky to have such an incredible, caring, professional staff - at times my own personal heroes carrying me through burnout and overwhelm while they kept my business running and our customers happy. From Denisse and Christopher, John and Hannah, Joel, Fiona, Shelby, Brian, Matt and Brittany, Henry and Anna, Nicole, you all have at times been inspirational, at other times so incredibly gracious in the face of a business owner in a permanent state of trying to keep it all from blowing up, and I thank them so much for helping us stay in business for as long as we've been able to. Unfortunately, between my own necessary absenteeism and a general slowdown in business - there isn't a formula to make it work anymore. The math doesn't math - as my fellow millennials say.
I know there has been a lot of passion and tense dialogue in the UH community given recent elections - as passions fade into the day to day buzz of a wonderful neighborhood, I want to offer to you all my sincerest gratitude for your business, your stories, and for your friendship; and I hope my appreciation for you will bring a little warmth your way after a stressful week of local events. University Heights is a special community and neighborhood, and I had a unique position to be able to watch the neighborhood chug along from the comfort of my 2013 green school bus like a panoramic moving picture - watching neighbors become friends, couples become parents, parents become proud empty nesters, guests become regulars, and customers become friends. Maybe this is the sentimental heart of a 42 year old dad becoming a little more in tune with his community, or maybe you are all just that special. I'd like to think it's the latter.
The assets of Odd Dog will be listed for sale in short time. If you are or know of someone who might be interested in taking over the reigns of Odd Dog Coffee - please message me, and let me know you've done so in the comments.
Thank you
Mike
