EDGEWATER — Owners of North Side café Baker & Nosh announced Monday via the bakery's Facebook page they were ending an online campaign to raise $650,000 that would have gone toward building two new locations.
Last month, owners Terry Groff and Bill Millholland set up a GoFundMe page that sought to raise the money from the public to fund the development of new stores in Edgewater and Uptown.
On Monday, the owners said their plan "didn't seem to work for us like we thought it might."
"We've decided to end the donation campaign; it didn't seem to work for us like we thought it might," the post said. "To those of you who did donate, your money is being refunded in full over the next few business days. Thank you for your tremendous support, though. We'll be in touch."
Asking for money through the online campaign was a "humbling request" meant to finance bakeries at 5600 N. Ridge Ave. and 4600 N. Magnolia Ave. after funding had "fallen through," coupled with what they described as a series of "nightmares" and setbacks related to opening the restaurants.
"At some point, as business owners, we have to decide when it is time to pull the plug," the bakery wrote on its Facebook page in early June. "Unfortunately, that time is coming up very quickly."
After construction at the Magnolia location was stuck with a stop-work order from the city for performing work without a permit in March, the shop's original location at 1303 W. Wilson Ave. closed abruptly.
"If you have been following us on Facebook or reading about our situation in the news, it has been a tough couple months. We have struggled to search for loans and investments to help finish our construction nightmares. The reality of our current state has left us in terrible doubt about the future of our bakery," the bakery wrote on the fundraising page, which is no longer active.
The Baker & Nosh website is also no longer active and a phone number for the stores has been disconnected for several months.
Groff and Millholland could not be reached for comment Monday.
