Mustang Sally’s Saloon, a country bar which opened just six months ago on Ansonia’s East Main Street, will close this week.
Dennis Jordhamo, the owner, announced the news in a Facebook post Monday, thanking employees and saying prices would be slashed beginning Tuesday as the business looks to empty its inventory.
Jordhamo told the Valley Indy Monday the decision to close came down to simply not having enough customers.
Patrons flocked to the new business when it opened in April, but as Jordhamo lamented in an interview last month, getting them to come back proved to be difficult.
Keeping the doors open while losing money just didn’t make sense, Jordhamo said.
Jordhamo tried to stay positive Monday despite the setback.
“Saturday’s our last day,” he said. “Please stop by and have a drink. Everything must go. Thanks for your support.”
Mustang Sally’s had two previous locations in Milford, but when the business closes its doors in Ansonia it will be for good, Jordhamo said.
“I’m all done,” he said.
City officials were sad to hear the news.
“It’s a tough location,” Sheila O’Malley, the city’s economic development director, said of the business. “You get not a lot of foot traffic on Main Street, but you get less on East Main Street.”
In addition to not having a lot of foot traffic, the two-story building at 370 E. Main St. is also quite spacious — nearly 10,000 square feet — which would be difficult for any new restaurant, O’Malley said.
The city will help market the property so it can be put to productive use as soon as possible, she said, but she wondered whether the building could be divvied up into smaller units more manageable for startups.
“I get inquiries about restaurants but that’s a lot of space,” O’Malley said. “Maybe it could be subdivided to make it work better.”
Before Mustang Sally’s, the building’s previous tenant, Lanza’s Restaurant and Capri Lounge, closed in October 2012 after being evicted for not paying rent.
Jordhamo spent tens of thousands of dollars overhauling the property before opening Mustang Sally’s, John Marini, the city’s corporation counsel, noted Monday.
“Dennis stepped up to the plate and put a good deal of investment into that property,” he said. “It’s going to be sad to see Dennis leave.”
