City Cafe Bakery closing after 18 years

City Cafe Bakery's doors closed for good on Tuesday afternoon after 18 years of business in south Carson City.

Owner Roberta Rosario, who bought the deli and bakery at 701 S. Carson St. in 2007, decided to sell six months ago after her husband fell seriously ill. She also gave birth to her 7-week-old daughter, Abigail.

The building's owner went into foreclosure over the summer and was purchased on the courthouse steps by Pat and Shawnda Drudge in August.

In an attempt to keep the City Cafe Bakery name going, Rosario had found a potential buyer who was willing to continue the business at the same reduced rent Rosario had been paying her former landlord over the past year, which was about 50 cents per square foot.

But the Drudges would only accept if the new tenant agreed to a rent increase after September. The buyer declined.

Shawnda Drudge said she and her husband would be unable to make their mortgage on the building at the rate Rosario had been paying.

Now, the building will sit empty until the Drudges can find a tenant - preferably a restaurant, Shawnda Drudge said - while Rosario spends the next few days clearing out the bakery. Meanwhile, six of Rosario's employees will be out

of a job.

Rosario said she'll be at the bakery this morning saying farewell to customers.

"I'm done, I'm not going to fight anymore," Rosario said. "So if they want an empty building they'll have an empty building."

After posting a yellow notice outside the bakery this week notifying her customers of the situation, including the statement that the new owners had increased "rent by 80 percent," the Drudges sent Rosario a letter on Tuesday demanding she remove the sign, saying, "Closing your business has nothing to do with us, the new building owners."

Rosario said if anyone is interested in purchasing her equipment to e-mail her at therosarios@charter

.net.

For now, she said she'll spend more time at home with her three children and her husband.

"My priority is my husband getting better," Rosario said.