CRESTVIEW — Say bye-bye, Buddy’s, sayonara Sapporo and so long, Southern Chic.
While several new businesses will open in the coming months, two eateries and a clothing store are closing their doors. They follow A Scrap in Time, a downtown crafts store that closed in July.
Buddy’s View BBQ’s black trailer pulled out of its location in the Waterfront Mission parking lot in mid-August, while Sapporo, a Main Street restaurant, closed Tuesday.
“It’s sad,” Sapporo owner John J. Cho said. “It’s really sad.”
Cho said he and his partner, Andy Oh, poured a lot of effort into building the restaurant. That included plenty of sweat equity to totally renovate what they described as a run-down restaurant.
“We worked very, very hard,” Cho said. “We thank our beautiful customers for their support over the last year and a half. We had a lot of regular customers.”
Cho and Oh said they want to open in another location, “but not here in Crestview.”
Wednesday, Southern Chic, which specialized in women’s clothing, accessories and Sorrelli jewelry, closes its Ferdon Boulevard South store after six years.
“The main reason is the economy,” owner Michelle Prine said. “The last two years our business has dropped off.”
In an Aug. 19 Facebook post, Buddy’s View BBQ owner Naaman Eicher announced the sale of his drive-thru eatery. The barbecue restaurant, which had been open since February 2015, was named for his son.
“We received an offer we couldn't refuse!” Eicher stated in his post. “We will miss our friends, customers, and the best landlord ever — Waterfront Rescue Mission! We wish you Peace, Luv, BBQ!”
“I received an offer to sell the trailer and accepted it,” Eicher said. “Upon the sale, the trailer moved out of state.”
Closing his business had an unforeseen benefit for Eicher, a Louisiana native.
“I am currently in Baton Rouge helping with the flooding disaster,” he said. “Four members of my family have had homes destroyed, together with one business and of course, numerous friends have suffered also.
“I have been helping feed some of the workers and the displaced families in shelters. I believe this situation is worse than Katrina.
“I ask our Crestview friends to please donate to the American Red Cross or the Baton Rouge Foundation.”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 'It's really sad': 3 Crestview businesses close