Mall food court tenant closing business after losing her lease, calls news ‘heartbreaking’
Her lease at Towne East Square was month-to-month, admits Marilyn Ramsey, owner of the long-running (and oft-moving) River City Sweet Shop.
But she thought she’d at least be given the option of signing a full lease before she was told she had to go.
That didn’t happen, though, and now Ramsey is planning to close her bakery, which she opened in the Towne East Mall food court nearly a year ago. Her last day will be July 30, and she’s hoping fans will flood her with business between now and then.
“It’s heartbreaking. It really is,” Ramsey said on Monday. “I’ve put tons and tons of money into this business.”
Ramsey said her hope is to sell the bakery minus the space to someone, but she has to act quickly. She has to be out by Aug. 3 and is “under the gun” to get her equipment out.
Mall manager Stephanie Courington confirmed on Monday that Panda Boba, the bubble tea shop that opened last fall in a kiosk just across from River City Sweet Shop on the lower level of the mall near Scheels, will be taking over the bakery’s space. Courington didn’t have a timeline for the move but said it should happen this year.
Courington said the mall had no comment on questions about the ending of Ramsey’s lease.
Ramsey said before she was told her lease was ending, she was planning to sell the bakery to her nephew. The notice “kind of came out of left field,” she said.
“l was a little disappointed they didn’t come to me and tell me this was going to happen and give my nephew an opportunity to sign a permanent lease,” Ramsey said.
She didn’t want to face moving the bakery again, as it would have been the 12-year-old shop’s fifth move in four years. And she didn’t think it was fair to sell her nephew a business that would soon be homeless.
Instead, she decided to close the bakery and look for a buyer. Anyone interested in buying the business should contact Ramsey at 316-304-2136.
Ramsey said she’ll be staging a “Christmas in July” event during her final weeks in business and hopes to sell as much inventory as she can.
“I can’t even tell you all the money I’ve put into it,” she said. “I want to get as much business as possible in the door.”
This story was originally published July 10, 2023 at 1:49 PM.
.jpg)