THUNDER BAY — The Nomad Bakeshop and Sandwich Bar is on the move.
The Thunder Bay restaurant on Bay Street will close its doors and patio and reopen inside the Goods and Co. Market in the city's north core.
Owners Shawna Deagle and Nikos Mantis, who also own and operate their umbrella company, Pinetree Catering, have decided to close the site, but Deagle says, "It's not the end."
"It wasn't in the plan for us to close that location. Everything happened quite quickly," Deagle said.
"After three and a half years, our lease with that agreement was up for renewal, and with the new lease proposed, we decided it was in our best interest to close that location."
She added that one of their main concerns is their employees, keeping them employed and making sure they're looked after. Deagle called the employees the "heart of the business" who are the best and strongest they've ever had.
"We do plan on keeping our employees and the public informed as things progress," she said. "The Bay and Algoma area is not an area that we want to leave permanently. It's where we want to be and where we plan to be, but in what capacity, only time will tell."
The pair are searching for other opportunities in the area. Having made a sizable investment in their patio, she says they would like to continue that.
"It might be the end for Nomad on Bay Street, but it's definitely not the end for Nomad Sandwich Bar," Deagle said.
"We are in talks right now for something good and that news should come out hopefully sooner than later if it all works out."
Deagle says they invested in the development of their patio with the mindset that they would be there for a lot longer.
"To essentially walk away from all that we invested in is heartbreaking and we will probably never get that back," she said. "The mural has to be painted over, the fencing came down and the man hours that we put into that is completely heartbreaking."
She added that's the risk taken when renting a place rather than owning it.
The two business partners began their Pinetree Catering operation more than ten years ago, working out of Mantis's basement for two years before expanding to a larger kitchen. They opened a site at the Thunder Bay International Airport, which they still operate, and finally added the Bay Street Nomad location, growing to more than 30 employees across the businesses.
Meanwhile, the Nomad will reopen inside the Goods and Co. Market where people can access their bread, frozen pies, dips and pita chips.
"That will help us keep our bakers and kitchen staff employed, and you will see those friendly faces from Nomad on Bay at Goods and Co.," Deagle said.
"For now, we welcome people to come to (Nomad on Bay) in the next few weeks and just support us by buying a sandwich."
The Chronicle Journal / Local Journalism Initiative
