The popular and much-loved Michael's Coffee Shop and Bakery will soon be a permanent fixture on Main Street in Carlyle.
The shop, famous for its London fog and lattes will officially close the Arcola location on Friday, May 23, and will reopen in Carlyle in August. According to store owner Michael Ellis, the move comes as a result for a need of more business and explained Carlyle is a town better suited for his goals. However, Ellis was quick to show his gratitude to Arcola and highlight the support he received from the neighbouring town.
"It doesn't take a great amount of insight to see that Carlyle has a lot more traffic than Arcola does, so I am looking forward to that and being a bit busier than we are here in Arcola," he said.
"Not that the people of Arcola didn't appreciate the coffee shop, but with the changes with my family and the changes on the ground, we do need to be a bit busier than we are."
Michael's Coffee Shop will be relocated to Main Street at the building where Bits 'n Pizzas was once located. Ellis has been operating in Arcola for five years and said the Carlyle location is great and very much similar to the Arcola location, which is very compact; space they used very efficiently.
"That building is only slightly bigger than the one I have right now, so I'm looking to almost keep the exact same layout," he said.
Ellis said the business is now going through a transition phase as there still remains some work to be done within the building. "I was very privileged to sell my building and the people who wanted this building needed it sooner than the other building would be ready and so we're going to closed...," he said.
Ellis also said the Carlyle building once hosted a business that was fairly similar to his coffee shop. One aspect of his business is making and selling pizzas, which was done at the Main Street building for several years and this he said will make the adjustment easier. Ellis also expressed the amusement in his espresso machine taking the place of the deep fryer that was once a main feature of the previous business.
Ellis said when the opportunity presented itself to move the business, he was not hesitant, adding, his dream come true would be to have the shop opened on Aug. 11 and although it's not concrete he said it's a realistic date.
