Artist Cafe Owner: Not Enough Support From Community

Longtime Catonsville resident Debbie Ford was a regular customer at the old Six Mile Coffee shop on Frederick Road.

So when the previous owner Chris Sikora shut the place down because there wasn't enough foot traffic to sustain the business, Ford jumped at the chance to take over. She opened in October.

"All I wanted to do was save this little coffee shop," she said in a telephone interview with Patch on Wednesday morning.

The store has been closed for about two weeks, with signs on the doors and the drive-through window annoucing the closing.

Ford and partner Andy Richardson had high hopes for the coffee shop, which opened in late October last year. Sikora was forced to shut down Six Mile Coffee in June. He had opened the shop at 609 Frederick Road in October of 2010.

The building, which is owned by Catonsville resident Craig Witzke, had been renovated just prior to Six Mile Coffee opening in 2010.

Ford said the main reason for the Artist Cafe closing was the same as it was under Sikora—not enough customers.

"The Catonsville community did not support Artist Cafe," she said.

Patch readers had suggested that the signage and the marketing of the shop could have been better but Ford said the business had a Facebook page and a website.

While the more prominent sign on the property still said Six Mile Coffee, Ford said she had plans to add a new sign. And she pointed out that there was still other signage at the business, including a neon coffee sign and a flag that said 'open' draped outside the front door.

What do you think? Did Artist Cafe not receive enough support from the community? Tell us in the comments.

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