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Hello, everyone, I hope you are enjoying these waning days of summer. You may have noticed many changes in your recent visits to the café. Larger shifts in the economy have presented us, like all small business, with some serious challenges. Food prices have risen dramatically, fuel surcharges have been added to each delivery, sales tax has increased and many customers, dealing with their own economic hardships, have tightened their belts and stopped coming regularly. We have responded to the trends we saw by becoming more efficient, shifting our hours to reflect when people were actually coming, eliminating products that were losing substantial amounts of money, and adding new organic baked goods. Scott, John and I are deeply committed to the values embodied in the Prairie Croissant Café- organics, Fair Trade, environmental sustainability, locally-sourced products, fresh, artisan foods, great experience, giving back to our community and just plain taking good care of our staff and our customers. We find that we are now at a crossroads: choose to continue to do the right thing and stay committed to our values even when it’s difficult, or compromise those values and do anything to make money. We could choose cheaper, environmentally unfriendly products and cheaper, low quality food, but the whole inspiration for the café has been to create something we could be proud of, something that could make a difference. There are scores of mediocre sandwich shops and morally vapid coffee depots. We could not bear to become one of them. The sacrifices that we made and continue to make in our personal lives and in the lives of our families would mean nothing if we were not able to look at what we had created and stand proud. John H, Scott and I have never wavered ; we choose to commit to our values, to doing the right thing and to staying true to who we are. In that vein, we are faced with a painful reality. This business model, this enterprise, our Prairie Croissant Café, is not a viable business. As much as we have tried- we have given everything we all have, and then some- we are now at a place where we are no longer able to continue to fund this joyful experiment. With pride and sadness, John, Scott and I have decided to close the Prairie Croissant Café. We are sad and disappointed that we couldn’t make this work, that we couldn’t inspire enough people to come and be a part of this special place, that we are disappointing those wonderful people who have always supported us so passionately. As we close this chapter in our community, and in our own lives, we close our doors and say goodbye knowing that we did the right thing, we looked “failure” in the eye and decided that choosing our values, no matter the outcome, is the only success there ever is. We have succeeded in creating the place we dreamed of. We believe that ideals can only be realized when we choose to realize them, to embody them when it’s hard and when it’s easy. I stand with Scott and John with deep pride and profound gratitude for our amazing staff, old and new and those who have been with us the whole time, our family and friends, our friends in the community, our cherished “regulars” too many to name but whose faces will always be an indelible part of our best café memories, all of our customers, our wonderful suppliers and all of us who have a dream of creating a new world, and strive to make it a reality with each action in our own lives. We treasure the time that we have spent with you as customers and we look forward to continuing our lives as your friends and neighbors. Our last day will be next Sunday, August 31st. We will continue to offer all of the fresh baked organic pastries, desserts, drinks and awesome coffee that we have now through our last day, with the same commitment to quality and joy that we have always have. The café will be closed Monday, open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 8-2, Friday and Saturday 8-5 and Sunday 8-2. If you are inspired, we invite you to share your thoughts, feelings and memories of The Prairie Croissant Café on our website, http://www.prairiecroissant.com . Come on in one last time (or 5!) and sit, and really experience, your organic latte or tea. Soak up the moment. Then, take it home with you and recreate that experience in your own life. “Be the change you wish to be in the world.” It’s worth every heartache, every hardship, every “failure.” It is the definition of success. With deepest gratitude for our wonderful 14 months with you, Jacque, Scott and John H Proprietors, Prairie Croissant Café
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