WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – After nearly five years in business in Wichita’s Historic Delano District, Leslie Coffee Co. is closing its doors. Owner Sarah Leslie says the possibility of closing the coffee shop is something she’s had to deal with for a while.

“About a year ago I was feeling really burned out,” says Leslie. “I think a lot of the stress of the pandemic and owning a business and being a single mom had kinda started to add up for me.”

Then, the financial stress started to set in.

“We’ve had some good months, but we’ve had more bad months. And right now we’re about 50% of where we were last year in terms of sales.”

Sarah says the sacrifices it would take to get the coffee shop back on track are sacrifices she can’t make right now. As a single mom, she wants to be able to be there for her kids.

“I don’t have a ton of things that are like pouring into my cup I’m just like giving giving giving all over the place… I want to be a good mom who’s not grouchy and tired when I’m with my son.”

Leslie Coffee Co. isn’t the only small business experiencing problems right now. Sarah says talking to other business owners in town it seems like a lot of their numbers are down.

“They only pay themselves if they’re making money, they cut back on a lot of their life to make sure that they’re giving it to the business.”

Sarah’s sacrifices haven’t gone unnoticed by her customers. If there’s anyone just as upset about the coffee shop closing it’s her regulars. Some were even moved to tears.

“I’m not ashamed to say I might’ve cried a little bit,” says regular customer Brianna Vollbracht. But she understands Sarah’s decision. “I really love that she’s taking her own personal life seriously and her needs and her child’s needs.”

Sarah says that support has been amazing.

“It’s been overwhelming,” Sarah said through tear filled eyes. “It’s definitely, like, a grieving process I think for me and the staff and certainly for a lot of our customers and our community.”

But even though it’s sad Sarah is proud of the business she’s been able to build.

“I love this place, I love working here. To me it’s perfect and I’m so proud of it,” says Sarah. “But that doesn’t mean it has to last forever.”

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