CLEVELAND, Ohio – As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, iconic businesses in Cleveland and elsewhere keep closing their doors.
Since COVID hit the country in March 2020, more and more businesses have been shuttered. In Ohio alone, the Ohio Restaurant Association says 3,100 restaurants have closed their doors. A study from the Federal Reserve Board published in April 2021 suggests that 200,000 more businesses than normal in the first year of the pandemic.
But the reason why each bakery, restaurant or treat shop closed is as unique as the business itself.
Here are six familiar Cleveland-area businesses that closed recently and why:
1. Lucy’s Sweet Surrender
Lucy’s Sweet Surrender in Shaker Heights is auctioning its equipment and closing its doors. The bakery has been open since 1994.
The owner, Michael Feigenbaum, had posted a year earlier that the business was struggling and came close to selling in January. He eventually decided to close due to the ongoing business struggles and his health.
Lucy’s is still in the process of selling equipment, and is posting more information on its Facebook page.
Michael Feigenbaum rolls out Mexican Wedding Cookies at Lucy's Sweet Surrender in 2016. The bakery, a longtime fixture in Shaker Heights, looks to be closing its doors soon. Feignbaum is planning an online auction to sell the equipment.The Plain Dealer
2. Minh Anh
Minh Anh, a Vietnamese restaurant on Detroit Avenue on the near West Side, closed Sept.12 after being in business since 1984. It was one of Cleveland’s first Vietnamese restaurants.
The owner, Camla Wadsworth, told cleveland.com that she closed because she wanted to retire. The building has been sold to a developer who is building a large-apartment building next door.
Cleveland restauranteur Michael Flaherty once called the #20 pho with cinnamon rare beef at Minh Anh "a total umami bomb." (Photo by Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com)cleveland.com
3. Clifton Martini & Wine Bar
The Clifton Martini & Wine Bar closed in October after more than a decade in business. The bar and restaurant was on Clifton Boulevard near the border of Cleveland and Lakewood.
Owner Jeff Rumplik cited said issues with the landlord and the building’s management company was the reason behind the closure. Rumplik has filed a lawsuit against the company in Spring 2020.
“I just don’t need the headache… It had nothing to do with a labor shortage or the pandemic or finance or anything like that,” Rumplik said. “We had a thriving business that we ended up having to close because it was unbearable after a while.”
4. Sweet Moses
Sweet Moses, an old-fashioned ice cream shop in Cleveland’s Gordon Square neighborhood, closed in October after being in business since 2011.
The owners posted on Facebook to say that a plan to transition the shop to new owners fell through, leading to “the difficult decision to close the shop.”
Sweet Moses in Cleveland
5. Tremont Scoops
Tremont Scoops closed in September after selling the building on Professor Avenue in Cleveland.
According to Cuyahoga County records, that sale was a whopping $380,000. That’s way, way up from the building’s 2012 sale to the Tremont Scoops owners, which came in at $195,300.
Tremont Scoops has been open for nine seasons, serving a mix of ice cream and dairy-free options to the Cleveland neighborhood.
Tremont Scoops will close this month. (Photo by John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer)John Petkovic/The Plain Dealer
6. Winking Lizard Gateway
Winking Lizard Gateway, which sat on Huron Road near Progressive Field and Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, closed its doors temporarily in late August. Months later, that decision became permanent.
Owner John Lane called the current business economy “brutal” and said there wasn’t enough business at the location when events weren’t going on.
Reporters Anne Nickoloff, Eric Heisig and Marc Bona contributed to this story.
Previous coverage
50 Greater Cleveland restaurants that closed in 2020
Lucy’s Sweet Surrender planning auction; longtime bakery looks to close this year
Five new locally owned shops slated for Tower City
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Why have so many iconic Greater Cleveland businesses closed lately? Here are the reasons for 6 - cleveland.com
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