BARNEGAT, NJ – Each day on television, Governor Phil Murphy mourns the loss of lives during COVID-19. Most of those he continues to memorialize died during the height of the pandemic, but these days, few are dying of the disease in New Jersey. Instead, the more fatal disease has become the politics of Governor Phil Murphy and his decision to keep several industries shut down despite the diminishing impact of the virus itself.
Restaurants, gyms and other businesses not able to operate at full capacity are closing, including the latest victim right here in Ocean County.
Delights Artisan Cafe opened to the public in November of 2019. It was a great business idea in a community that needed such a business.
“To actually achieve the goal of having our own café/coffee house was truly a blessing,” the owners of the cafe said. “Over the past 10 months we have grown so much and met some amazing people who shared our love for Delights. At the start of the year we saw this little dream of ours starting to grow beyond our expectations. Every new business goes through some growing pains, but by February we were confident that the future was going to be very bright.”
Then came COVID-19.
“However, as you know the world changed in March. COVID-19 and the restrictions it brought caused an entire business model, that was built on indoor dining in our dining room/tea room, to come crashing down. The prospect of take-out and delivery was an easy transition for us. The addition of outdoor seating gave us more opportunities. Unfortunately, this was still not enough to win back the required profit margins to allow us to stay current on our bills.” they said. “We were able to obtain a few small grants from the CARES act, but it was still not enough. As we now look at nearly $40k in debt, a decision had to be made. So it is with a heavy heart that we tell you that this chapter in the story of Delights has ended. Our last day of business will be 8/14. We would like to thank our friends, family, dedicated employees, and everyone that made Delights a part of their daily routine. We will never forget the friendships and relationships we’ve made over the past 10 months. This is not the final chapter for us, only a small intermission. Perhaps we’ll be back in the spring of 2021.”
Today, the company said there may be hope after all.
“We might be able to stay open a little bit longer than initially expected. Stay tuned,” they posted on Facebook.
Photo by Anastasiia Chepinska on Unsplash
