The only Pita Pit location in Chatham will be closing up shop at the end of November, but it won't be for good.
Sisters and franchise co-owners Jodi Collins and Janine Timmermans have confirmed the Pita Pit location on St. Clair Street will be closing November 15, 2018. However, new franchise owners are expected to take over in early 2019.
Collins and Timmermans have owned the Pita Pit location for 10 years. Although the decade in business has served them well, they both said now is the time to part ways from the company.
"We want to spend some more time with our families," said Timmermans. "We feel like we have learned a lot over the last ten years [and] we're ready to start a new chapter."
The sisters are stepping away from the food industry altogether to start an online-based business in the new year, selling children's clothing.
"With some of the changes coming up with our 10 years, we decided now is a good time to step out on our own," said Timmermans. "We've learned so much that we want to use what we learned and try something different."
"[We want] to create our own brand and our own company, build something from the ground up," said Collins.
Closing up shop will be bittersweet for the co-owners. Timmermans said over the past decade they have come to know their customers and work with great employees.
"We're going to leave with a lot of wonderful memories," said Timmermans.
"Chatham really helped us grow the business over the last 10 years. We have really made a lot of accomplishments [and] that's because of the public -- all of the customers," said Collins.
The store closing does come ahead of the holiday season, however, Timmermans said the employees were given notice and some have already started looking for other jobs.
"They have been quite understanding," said Timmermans. "I'm really proud of some of the staff we have, they have taken it so well."
"They let us know that they are going to miss it here but at the same time they understand that [Timmermans] and I are ready to move on," said Collins.
In terms of filling the void, Pita Pit's head office has confirmed that the Chatham location will be closed temporarily for renovations. Details surrounding the ownership change are finalizing. Chatham's Pita Pit is expected to reopen with new franchise owners sometime in "early 2019" with a new look.
