Sweet Madeleine's Cafe Closes

By Sam Thrift Sunday, December 04, 2011

When the time came to renew her lease Angela Harder, the owner of Sweet Madeleine’s Café in Monticello Marketplace, decided the small shop was too expensive to keep open after five years in business.

The Williamsburg soup and sandwich restaurant closed two weeks ago, and the walls that once contained the business are now bare. When it came time to renew the lease, Harder decided it was time to focus on her other businesses - the Gloucester restaurants, the original Sweet Madeleine’s and Off the Hook, and her catering business - that have fared better in the struggling economy. The original Sweet Madeleine’s has been open for 13 years.

“I chose not to renew the lease because I’ve been there five years and it was so expensive,” Harder said. “I’m going to concentrate on my catering and my original location."

She said the Williamsburg café did not get a lot of traffic, but she did have great customers.

“I would like to say thanks to the customers who supported us and hopefully they come across the bridge to Gloucester,” Harder said.

Harder’s catering business is staying busy with seven events this weekend and she believes it will continue to do well.

Harder doesn’t think she will try to open another café, but she has toyed around with the idea of a bakery.