A popular Cardiff plant shop and café has announced that it will be closing its doors in its current spot next month. Eartha, a plant shop, café, bar, and canteen is located on City Road, however the popular business has announced the end of its tenancy on the street.
In an Instagram post from the store's account, the most recent post read: "We are sad to announce that we will not be continuing with our tenancy at 213 City Road and Eartha will be closing on Sunday 10th July. It was a difficult decision to make but due to the impact of the pandemic in combination with recent price hikes we have sadly decided to call it a day."
The post went on to say that the business, which has been operating since 2018, was in its fifth year of trading on City Road. The post continued: "It’s been an honour to safeguard a much-loved community space and independent venue against the odds. It’s been a privilege to serve the community of Cardiff during these troubling times and provide plants, a green space and some very tasty food.
READ MORE: The Grangetown cricket stars hoping to inspire the next generation to pick up a bat
"Our platform has allowed us to support many amazing, independent businesses, makers, growers and charities during a pivotal moment in time. We thank our incredible customers for helping us to do so and for getting us this far!" The store added that it is unable to disclose who the next tenants of the building will be.
The business started as a pop-up that was helped by a crowdfunder and the Prince's Trust before expanding on City Road following the first lockdown.
Stephen Peckham, owner of Eartha, told WalesOnline: "It's been a really strange time to have expanded and entered hospitality because so much of what the business represents is about supporting the local economy and local enterprises and creating green spaces and providing people with plants.
"It was quite a beautiful time in the pandemic to be trading just because there was such emphasis on supporting local, but also people were getting really into their plants especially being at home and having a garden here that we could offer to the community was really beautiful and quite poignant when in many iterations of the pandemic we couldn't go to other people's houses."
Stephen added that the team has been "really happy" to provide people with "good food and greenery" and says he is "content." "Starting on a budget of near enough £1,000 it's amazing how many people its employed and what it's done and also how many businesses it's supported during this difficult time."
He added that it is "sad to say goodbye to City Road" but that the team are "happy with what they've done." Stephen said: "It's been an incredible, diverse place to have set down our roots." Stephen added that he wanted to thank the store's customers for seeing them through the pandemic.
The not-for-profit community interest company is supported by The Prince's Trust, the National Lottery Community Fund, and UnLtd, and listed a number of local Cardiff businesses among its suppliers, including Hard Lines, the Little Man Coffee Co., Waterloo Tea, and Riverside Sourdough.
