Popular local shop to close Sunday
Jan. 10—The Eyelight — Coffee, Comics and Houseplants, which has been a favorite for some in Sanford over the last two years, will be closing their doors forever on Sunday.
An outpouring of support and condolences were expressed on their Facebook page when the store announced its going out of business sale.
"They created such a cool artist/creative space," patron Vicki Berggren Annabel said. "My granddaughter and I took a few classes there. We bought eclectic stickers. i loved their snacks and plants. Their presence will be missed because there's nothing like that in town."
"It's sad to see such a fun place go," Denise Myer said. "There's no other place like it around here. Chelsea always made you feel welcome. Getting a coffee and a plant was a must, and my son will miss the comics."
Chelsea Fields and her husband Brian Mitchell, bought the building more than two years ago, and had to do some renovations in order to convert the space from what was once was a beauty school into a fun and happy environment for houseplants, coffee and comics, on top of dealing with the pandemic at the same time.
"We had never come to this side of town (Jonesboro) until we bought this building." Fields said. "We looked at a couple buildings downtown, but felt this was the best place. This building has rows of chairs and sinks, so we remodeled the front first, and then Covid hit, but we were set in our minds to open and we did back when there were occupancy limits."
At one time they thought about selling beer and wine to help stay afloat, but their hearts just weren't in changing the environment.
"We wanted to keep it family oriented," Fields said. "But we loved having it open to kids, with family-centered events. It wasn't our thing, so we decided not to do it."
It's been a tough few years for small businesses across the country, but Fields and her husband did their best to hold on as long as possible, before they both came to the conclusion that it was time to close.
"How do we get this to a point where we can start to pay ourselves?" Fields asked. "We spent several months mulling over our options and decided it was time to close."
Fields said that her and her husband will be selling the building, but her husband will continue to sell comics online and she will be opening a plant store in Pinehurst called Rhizome, located at 7500 NC Hwy. 15-501, next to the Harley Davidson dealership.
Eyelight Coffee & Comics will be open this week from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. all this week, with a final event on Sunday featuring Lending Paws A Hand Cat Adoption event at 1 p.m. on Sunday Jan. 14, 2022.
The Eyelight is located at 122 Main Street, Sanford.
