Black Iron Coffee Roasters at 119 W. Grand River Ave. in downtown Howell has closed its doors.
Owned by Kevin and Darcie Ridge, the popular coffee shop — which opened in 2018, specializing in hand-roasted, small batches of coffee — cited rising operating costs and health issues as reasons for its closing.
“We hoped that after getting through the pandemic that we could keep growing as a company,” the business said in a Facebook post announcing its closing.
“But with operating costs never giving us a break, we have to stop the bleeding. This has been a really rough year, and with debt rising and some lingering health issues, we felt we just couldn’t keep it going.”
Downtown Howell resident Colleen Doyle said that she was sad the coffee shop was closing: “Loved your employees and your support,” she wrote on Facebook. “Best of luck and I’ll miss your coffee!”
Oh Crumbs Bread Company, a fellow downtown Howell business, posted that it was sorry to hear of Black Iron’s closing: “The city has lost a fine addition to our community.”
Black Roasters Coffee’s e-commerce site remains open for anyone who purchased gift cards.
“This community has shown us so much support that we feel awful about this decision. But we wanted to thank each and everyone for showing us support while we were open.”
