A popular pizzeria business in south Wales has announced the closure of its flagship branch in Cardiff, citing "significant losses" in the pandemic, "rising costs" and debt. The owners of Dusty's Pizzeria, married couple Deb and Phill Lewis, announced on Wednesday that their venue in The Bone Yard in Canton was shutting with immediate effect.
In a statement on social media, they wrote: "With immense sadness Phill and I must announce the immediate closure of Dusty’s Pizza at our Papermill Road location, otherwise known as The Boneyard. Us, like so many others, have suffered significant losses as a result of the pandemic in 2019 and whilst we have battled hard to retain our sites one by one they have fallen foul to rising costs, have become encumbered with debt as a result of the last few years without adequate room for their recovery.
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"We are incredibly grateful to those that have supported us in all our endeavours, watched our journey not only as an independent business over the last eight years but also as a family. Dusty’s truly holds a very special place in our heart and I hope in yours, for whatever it has meant to you.
"We are hopeful that Dusty’s will make a return in the not so distant future in some form but for now we must be courageously quiet and navigate this heartbreaking time. A special thanks to our team members over the years, our incredible suppliers, to those that saw something in us all those years ago and gave us creative room, to those that leant us screwdrivers, wrenches, shipping containers and everything in between. Thank you doesn’t quite cover it! We really did give it our all."
The closure of the Cardiff branch comes just a few months after the couple announced Dusty's Pizza was leaving its site at GoodSheds in Barry. That decision was also due to "rising costs", as well as "a significant lack of skilled labour, haphazard availability and under performance", according to a statement from the business on social media in August this year.
The third and final branch of the pizzeria at Founders & Co. in Swansea is still running. You can read more here about how the couple first began selling pizzas in the back of a van and rapidly rose through the food industry ranks, all while raising their five children.
The husband and wife team are also behind other separate restaurants on top of their Neapolitan micro-chain: Nook, a small plates and natural wines bistro in Canton, in August 2019, and Kindle, a sustainable, wood-fired eatery in an old warden's house in Sophia Gardens, in September last year.
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