KETTERING — The University of Cincinnati has put out a study that reported 60% of restaurants in the city closed between 2008 and 2023.
News Center 7 has reported on a few restaurants that have closed in the Dayton region, so many consumers are wondering why.
News Center 7’s Ava Petrosky visited a local breakfast place in Kettering where she spoke with the owner of the Blueberry Café, who shared how they are staying afloat.
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Kelley Andary, owner of Blueberry Café, said, “The pattern’s just been kind of non-pattern,” when it comes to customer flow.
“We are used to having a pattern, and then in the last six years, that pattern has kind of gotten a little wonky,” Andary said.
In her 22 years with the Blueberry Café, she’s seen the restaurant go through different trends, managing 65 staff members between the Kettering and Bellbrook locations.
“Probably 70% of that is full-time. So, our struggles probably would be to maintain my staff,” Andary said.
It’s because it’s been harder to plan for diners. “You don’t know if you should be fully staffed or if you let some staff be off that day,” Andary said.
And with inflation, menu prices have gone up. “If they have to raise prices, it’s the last thing they want to do,” Andary said.
Other restaurants that have closed in the last year in the Dayton region include Smokey Bones, Rum Runers and Los Reyes.
Andary said she believes dinner restaurants are having a harder time than the Blueberry Café.
“We have a dinner restaurant in Tipp City. They do okay, I mean, everybody’s doing okay, but normally we would see at least it be steady or a steady incline,” Andary said.
She said she just hopes to keep serving the community through these challenges, and she was excited to share that they were able to participate in their Veterans Day tradition, which is offering all veterans a free meal.
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