CORNWALL, Ontario – Kelsey’s restaurant in Cornwall closed on the morning of Monday, Jan.2. Owners Kevin and Wendy Hargreaves cited growing operating costs as the reason for closure.
“Hydro, gas and the minimum wage increase really hit us hard,” explained Kevin Hargreaves to Seaway News. “We actually should have closed Dec. 24, but we couldn’t in good conscience do that right before Christmas and New Year’s. We wanted to give our employees one last pay at the beginning of the month of January.”
Hargreaves said that Cara Operations Ltd. had taken over the management of the site and that plans were to re-open Kelsey’s in a few months.
“The company has been given the contact information of all of our employees and they will be contacted when the restaurant re-opens,” he said. “Until then they will likely be applying for EI.”
The Kelsey’s employees were told about the closure at a staff meeting Monday morning.
Hargreaves said that he and his wife Wendy will be staying in the community.
“We loved serving the community,” he said. “Our staff became like family and our customers became like friends.”
Patrons who have Kelsey’s gift cards can still redeem them at other Kelsey’s franchises or other Cara owned brands such as East Side Mario’s.
