MACON, Ga. — For some, visiting their favorite coffee shop is the best part of their day. However, one downtown Macon shop is closing its doors for the rest of the year after nine years in business.
No one is sadder to see it go than co-owner Kevin Reaves.
He was at Taste & See since 7 a.m. in the morning until they closed their doors at 2 p.m., talking to customers new and old.
Reaves says it’s sad to close, not due to lack of business, but a lack of workers.
"Ten years of my life. That's crazy," Reaves says.
He explains that they opened Taste & See nine years ago during the 'revitalization' of downtown Macon.
"On Poplar Street, the only thing there was-- you had the bar up the street, and then you had Kennedy Drugs on the corner, and then there was us,” he says.
Reaves says he's loved watching the business grow with people telling him it feels like home. However, he says they can't keep their doors open due to lack of staff, with half the workers they need.
"A couple of years ago, we would put out that we were hiring. You'd get 15 or so applications, and always be able to find two or three good applications. Now, you put it out and you might get two applications,” he explains.
Reaves says they need eight full-time workers to be fully-staffed, and they've since had to cut back their hours. He says they started closing on Mondays, only operating during the week from 7 a.m. - 2 p.m., and says they were still stretching to have shifts covered.
He says their pay is competitive at $15-$18 an hour with tips, so he's not sure where the shortage is coming from.
"To close because of that, it's heartbreaking,” Reaves says.
He says they’re planning on coming back in the spring and giving the business another try.
“It's just a matter of laying it down for a season, hoping and praying that next year, things change with the staffing issues. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, and we love all of our Taste & See family. We just hope to see you again in the spring.”.
Stephen Finney has been coming to Taste & See since it opened and even met his future wife there.
"Their closing is sad, of course,” Finney says. "This place was a refuge. We're going to miss them and we don't want to see them go. On the other hand, this place was a ministry first and the closing of it is not so much the end of it, but the end of one chapter.”.
Mike Seekins owns Famous Mike's next door.
"It's a shame that they're closing because I hate to see any individual type of establishment close,” Seekins explains.
He says he can relate to the staffing shortages.
"We have had to close two days in the last year because of stuff like that. We don't want to see any empty restaurants or buildings whatsoever,” Seekins says.
Reaves says if you'd like to work for Taste & See in the spring, you can apply by messaging their social media pages. He says he'll check and reply to all messages.