Zeteo Coffee, which closed its operation in Little Rock's River Market in March at the start of the covid-19 crisis, won't be reopening its doors.
Citing the pandemic as a business killer in the River Market, founder and co-owner Jon Mitchell posted Sunday night on Facebook (facebook.com/zeteocoffeeLR) that the three-year-old café on President Clinton Avenue will close for good.
The original shop on Oak Street in Conway will continue to operate.
The shop closed in March “to preserve our business as a whole … and to put our staff in the best position to be able to take care of themselves and meet their needs" and “in order to conserve resources,” according to the Facebook post. “We figured it would be a short-lived decision. We had no idea what we were in for.”
Mitchell said in the post that the landlord approached him and his wife and business partner, Trina, in June about extricating themselves from their five-year lease, and that indications that business in the River Market was not likely to increase any time soon convinced them to close permanently.
“We believe that this is [an] opportunity for us to pivot and that it will allow us to refocus our attention to our original Conway store and make some exciting improvements and upgrades to what we offer our customers and staff there,” Mitchell posted.