The Makerie, a craft and coffee bar in downtown Prince George, has announced it is closing its doors.
“It is with the deepest sadness that we announce today that The Makerie, as you know it today, is closing,” writes owner Kim Hayhurst in a social media post.
Hayhurst lists a variety of reasons for the decision to close including circumstances around the pandemic, rent increases, and personal matters.
“We have been trying to negotiate a solution with our landlord to keep our staff through to the end of summer, but that isn’t going well. It looks like our last day open to the public will be July 22, 2023. If you have gift cards to redeem, now is the time. If you have been wanting to come in and just haven’t made it, now is the time.”
Hayhurst opened the business in August 2020, with the opening date pushed back many times because of COVID-19 pandemic.
She said they signed the lease agreement back in 2020 “the day the world was sent into isolation.”
The original concept for the business located at 1135 Fifth Avenue was to have a craft centre with a rotating curated selection of projects and suited to the modern maker, coffee bar, letter-writing station and small retail shop all under one roof.
“The Makerie is not done. It is a beautiful business doing amazing things through creativity for our community. We believe in it and its purpose. We just need to find another path forward,” said Hayhurst.
“We hope you’ll follow along as we adjust and see what that will look like. We have some ideas and just need time to grieve what it is today and space to conceptualize what it can be in the future.”
