AUBURN — After four years in business, Holly's Own Deli on Court Street will close.
"I just can't (stay open)," owner Holly Mireault said. "The economy. Just trying to pay my bills, it's just not working."
Mireault opened the deli in 2007 after spending 20 years in restaurant management, including managing the kitchens of Austin’s Fine Wines and Food, Midnight Blues Club, and Black Watch. She rented the space formerly occupied by Black Watch and opened Holly's Own with a deli downstairs for breakfast and lunch customers and a wine bar upstairs for evening guests. Mireault also offered catering. Later, she added live music to the dining area upstairs.
Mireault recently closed the upstairs to save money. It worked for a while, she said, but ultimately it wasn't a solution. The catering business was doing OK, but the deli business was down and it wasn't bouncing back.
"Instead of coming in and buying a sandwich, soup and salad, they're coming in and just buying a soup. And that doesn't pay my bills," Mireault said.
She said she considered her options for a long time before finally deciding to close.
"I don't like giving up on anything, but if it concerns my mental and physical well-being, I guess I had to do it," she said.
Mireault said she plans to take a few weeks off, then "find a job where I can get a paycheck."
The deli is expected to close sometime next week. "When everything's gone," Mireault said.
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I give you credit, Holly.
You tried your best, had very good food, and yet it just didn't pan out. It don't mean squat, but E for effort.
The MAINEiacs fold, Hacienda Del Patron may very well be done, Graziano's is moving, and now Holly's is done. Man, is this area depressed. Heck, Wendy's couldn't even make it in L-A.
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