After 15 years in Logan, the owner of Sweetly Divine announced the store will be closing its doors in May.
Mark Grodkowski said he had plans to make changes to the look of the sandwich and pastry shop, which is located on Main Street in the same parking lot as Chick-fil-A and Wendy’s. He wanted to give the store a new sign to update the look. Then he approached his tenant, Woodbury Corporation, with the idea and received the news.
“They said, ‘We actually decided we are not going to renew the lease with you.’ I asked why and they said, ‘Well, we just don’t want to,’” Grodkowski said. “After 15 years, they decided to give me the boot.”
Grodkowski finished pastry school in Poland before immigrating to the United States. He and his wife moved to Logan and opened Sweetly Divine in 2006.
Grodkowski said a month ago, when he wasn’t at the store, an agent from Woodbury brought in an owner of a Chinese chain restaurant to look at the location. Now that restaurant is replacing Sweetly Divine.
While he assumed the rent for the location is going up because of the new WinCo being built next door, Grodkowski said there was no discussion about paying more to stay.
“They didn’t even give me the option or ask if I’d pay more,” he said. “If this was an honorable company who cared for the tenants, they’d ask me first. No. There was no such thing. It was just, ‘Get out.’”
Grodkowski said Woodbury will help Sweetly Divine move out, but that’s it.
In an email sent to the Statesman, Woodbury Corporation public relations said, “There are two sides to this story, but we don’t find it productive to discuss disputes with tenants publicly.”
“We’ve had some disputes with Woodbury over the years so they probably are tired of dealing with me,” Grodkowski said.
Sweetly Divine Bakery located on Main St, Logan, is undergoing its closing.
He said Sweetly Divine’s customers reacted with anger and sadness.
“A lot of people are angry at Woodbury, which I’m not really surprised. I’m upset at them too,” he said. “People really came to know me and loved this difference we offer.”
After Grodkowski posted the news of the shop’s closure on Facebook, the post received hundreds of comments from customers.
One user, Jennie Orme, thanked Grodkowski for bringing a taste of Europe to Cache Valley, and mentioned how the shop had a personal impact on her life.
“Your swan eclairs helped me with my mom with dementia,” the user wrote. “When she was having her darkest days, I could take her a swan and she would smile. It was the only thing that made her happy. I can’t bare the thought of telling her you will be gone.”
Another user, Betty Boomgaarden, said they were disappointed, saying, “Shame on the Woodbury Corp. for driving another small, but absolutely wonderful establishment, out of business.”
One comment from Joy Brisighella pleaded for a relocation and reopening saying “this would be a major loss to the community.”
Grodkowski said the community made important memories at the shop in its 15 years of business.
“This one lady said she had been coming here since she was eight, and she’s 20 now,” he said. “So many people came on dates here and are now married. It’s part of the history for them. People were using us for Valentine’s Day and Thanksgiving pies. All those things are going to be gone because of money.”
Customers have asked Grodkowski in the store and on Facebook if Sweetly Divine will relocate, but he can’t afford to right now, saying, “I don’t have that kind of money lying around.”
The only chance for relocating and reopening lies with Grodkowski’s wholesale business. He sells jalapeno jellies and freezer jams through Amazon, Lee’s Marketplace, Cox Honey and other distribution companies in Salt Lake City, Park City and Idaho.
If the wholesale business does well enough, Grodkowski said he will open a new retail shop.
“The store was my main bread and butter,” he said. “Selling the jellies was just a little gravy. Now I gotta turn around and make the gravy the bread and butter. We’ll see how it goes.”
Grodkowski said local businesses are the main part of the community in a small town like Logan.
“We’ve got lots of mom-and-pop businesses, but they’re not making as much money and they keep raising rent and replacing them,” he said. “It’s killing the spirit of the valley. You don’t want to be like everybody else. You don’t want to be another Salt Lake with chain stores everywhere.”
Grodkowski wished chain stores “all the success,” but said the focus on the bottom line is changing Logan and is “devastating for small towns like this one.”
The plan is for Sweetly Divine’s last day is May 15, but Grodkowski said that could change depending on supplies and that they will “try to stick it out” until then.
“I’m just sad at how everything went,” he said,” but I have faith and I’ll be pushing forward and hoping everything is gonna be alright.”
Sweetly Divine Bakery located on Main St, Logan, is undergoing its closing.
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