A Mexican restaurant located on Bank Square has closed its doors after trading for just a few months.
Having previously run the The Mulberry Bush Café on Bank Square for nine months, Barry and Andrea Mason were determined to make a success of their new venture which unfortunately failed to attract enough customers.
Barry Mason explained "We feel we tried everything to make the premises work and have made numerous sizeable investments into the business to keep it afloat over the last 13 months. Whilst the new operation, Margarita Lounge had increased the revenue a little compared to The Mulberry Bush Café, the business just didn't have enough customers to keep it going and we couldn't continue to support the operation that was losing, in some weeks, thousands of pounds.
"Feedback on the new operation had, on the whole, been really positive. Good food and beverage products at a reasonable price point, but just a massive lack of customers, particularly during the week.
"I would like to take the opportunity to clarify a couple of things that will no doubt be presumed to be the downfall of the business. The landlords Quorum Property have at all times acted with full support to the operation. They helped us through a difficult transition from the previous occupier, and have been supportive through the change in operation and again are looking to help us dispose of the lease in the best way for all concerned. The rates are also not exactly excessive for the size of the premises.
"Wilmslow is a fabulous town where my family and I have lived for around 30 years. Anyone who has been around for that long will have seen the changes the town have gone through, some good, some not so. There are many fantastic hospitality outlets in the town that have been here for a long time that are not seeing the footfall, both day and night that used to be the case. With well-established names disappearing from the streets all the time, I think it is a huge concern for all when you compare the trade levels Wilmslow currently enjoys to the likes of Alderley Edge, Hale etc.
"Sign of the economic times perhaps or the latest trend, Wilmslow has some work to do to put it back on the social map and I hope the proposed new outlets at Simon Dunn and Grove Street can help bring the residents of Wilmslow back out to support their town.
"For Andrea and myself, we move on to concentrate on other interests and catch up on time together as a family, which has been really difficult to balance over the last year or so."
Margarita Lounge is the latest in a string of closures to hit Wilmslow town centre with Yogberries, Claires', Hullabaloo Toys and Nevada Bobs also shutting down in the past couple of months.
Comments
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I live in Wilmslow and I'm a huge fan of Mexican food. I hadn't seen one single announcement or promotion telling me it was there.
Therein may lie the problem.
From the picture above - who can tell what the name is, what it does or sells? You can't.
Therefore, people never knew if this place was open or what it offered. Brilliant branding and marketing could have helped overcome the buildings fault, but this is a specialism that many independent retailers struggle with.
Therefore, I am sorry to see the business close as Wilmslow could do with a good Mexican restaurant and I too didn't realise it was open.
I also wish the Mason's more luck in the future with their next venture and hope they get a premises that helps, not hinders them.