Editor, It is with regret that I write this letter after agonizing for many hours. It comes with mixed emotions and thousands of tears. This is a decision that any independent small-business owner dreads, but, unfortunately, the time has come for me to close the doors of Poole’s Deli.

Small-business owners struggle every day to make ends meet. We are faced with many obstacles that larger companies can handle, such as rising costs, fees that are hard to pass along to our customers and, of course, countless other economic woes.

It’s not an easy decision, but there comes a time when a business owner must accept the fact that he or she can no longer make ends meet and the doors must be shut — no matter how much they love their jobs and all their customers.

My father and I started Poole’s 21 years ago. He has since retired. Over the years, my staff, my father and I have served so many of you — your children, grandparents and parents. It has been my pleasure to work with so many wonderful people in this community.

I will miss the fundraising dinners we held and watching our hard-working employees behind the counter. I will miss the Thanksgiving and Christmas meals we prepared each year for our customers, who sometimes passed them off as their own cooking (We didn’t mind!).

I will miss each and every one of you — the people we have served, the events we have catered, the dishes we have provided for potluck dinners, the meals we’ve prepared when our customers simply didn’t feel like cooking and, especially, the food we delivered to people who were unable to cook for themselves.

It will not be the same, not seeing our loyal customers stop in on their way to work for breakfast in a cup. We will miss all of you!
I want to thank my staff, some of whom have been with me for 16 years, for their hard work and dedication. They are my extended family and it will be an adjustment not seeing them every day.

I wish to thank all of our loyal customers for giving Poole’s Deli — home of the breakfast in a cup — 21 wonderful years.

— Susan Poole McCorkle
Former owner, Poole’s Deli