Trending
There are two fewer places to grab a bite to eat in downtown Marietta as the holidays draw near. Two eateries-Thrive Cafe and Catering on Front Street and Daydreams Cafe and Bake Shoppe on Putnam Street-recently closed their doors indefinitely.
After nearly a decade serving up lunches and breakfasts to downtown diners, Daydreams Cafe closed in November. The restaurant will be closed through the holidays. Owner Laurie Nash said she is pondering future options following the end of the cafe’s lease at 124 Putnam St.
“I haven’t decided what I’d like to do. I’m just going to enjoy the holidays with my family and look again in the new year,” she said.
Nash’s restaurant and bakery opened in the summer of 2005 and occupied different sites along Putnam and Second streets before relocating to the former First Settlement Restaurant in November 2011.
Nash’s annual lease with Peoples Bank recently ended and the bank has other plans for the space, said Nash.
A representative from Peoples Bank did not return calls seeking comment about future plans for the space.
Thrive Cafe and Catering first opened downtown more than two years ago and operated solely as a catering business for a year before expanding into a sit-down restaurant in January. The restaurant served an ever-changing menu, often sourced from local food suppliers.
Owner Christian Jussen did not return calls seeking comment Monday, but the business’ phone number is no longer working. A message scrawled on the glass window of the dark cafe hinted at a possible future business in the space. “Reopening as a bakery,” it said in black writing.
The closures leave two more vacancies in the downtown landscapes, which Charlotte Keim, executive director of the Marietta Area Chamber of Commerce, hopes will not remain vacant for long.
“Restaurants are a very tough business. They are a high failure rate and now there are two less reasons for people to come into town,” said Keim.
But she added, the closed restaurants provide an opportunity for entrepreneurs to come into those spaces, which in these two cases are already equipped with kitchens.
“So I’d encourage people who are interested in starting a business to contact the Small Business Development Center and work on a business development plan,” said Keim.