 Media Credit: Tommy Giglio/The Daily Northwestern A man stops and reads a placard on Cereality's door. The restaurant, 1622 Sherman Ave., closed its doors for business and moved out Monday night. Evanston residents speculated that the restaurant [Click to enlarge]
| |
By Nomaan MerchantThe Daily Northwestern
Just six months after it opened in downtown Evanston's Sherman Plaza, Cereality Cereal Bar and Cafe has closed its doors and moved out.
The restaurant, 1622 Sherman Ave., offered customers the chance to mix their favorite breakfast cereals with assorted toppings, in addition to serving oatmeal, breakfast bars and shakes.
The store's contents were packed up after closing Monday night, according to Jonathan Perman, executive director of the Evanston Chamber of Commerce. On Tuesday afternoon, all food and equipment had been removed from the store's interior.
"This was a very concerted, planned decision," Perman said.
A sign was posted on the restaurant's doors stating that it is not authorized to serve food without the city's consent.
Jay Terry, the city's director of health and human services, said the sign is part of standard procedure when a store closes.
"Presumably, it closed for financial reasons," Terry said.
Cereality operates four other franchises nationwide, including one in downtown Chicago.
Perman would not comment on the specifics of Cereality's departure, but he said the franchise had trouble building a market for specialty cereal.
"The question is, 'How do you convince people to pay $3.50 for a box of cereal?'" Perman said. "People have limitations and budgets, and make decisions about how many times they're willing to indulge."
Perman pointed out that Cereality's main product, cereal, is one that most consumers identify as a strictly breakfast food, making business difficult during afternoons and evenings.
"They're trying to expand people's dining habits to make cereal more of a 12-hour eating experience, and that's hard to do," Perman said.
Be the first to comment on this story