Mal's Vintage Tea Shop in Long Sutton closes down due to the impact of COVID-19 - but its owners hope to find new premises in the future
Customers have been saddened by the news that a popular tea room has had to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mal Jenkins and Sally Davies, who run Mal’s Vintage Tea Shop in Long Sutton, have said that financially they are unable to continue running the business at its current premises.
“We have pulled out due to the COVID-19 situation, because it is not profitable. The rent is so high,” Mal explained.
“We make a lot of money in the summer and in the winter we get high electric bills, so basically we will be working for nothing. We did get a grant but that just covered some of the bills.
“It is sad that we have had to close because it is like having a little hub. We have had lots of lovely customers and I have had people crying about the closure.
“But we just can’t do it financially. We have lost the summer trade and if we reopen we will only be able to allow a certain number of people in at a time and will need to put up partition walls.
“The saddest thing is we had picked up so much business. One person said we added a bit of style to Long Sutton.”
Mal (71) opened the tea room, in the town’s Market Place, in 2016 and last year took on business partner Sally to help her run the shop.
She has thanked all of her customers for their support and hopes to reopen the tea room once the pandemic is over but cannot say for sure if it will be in Long Sutton.
“I live in Gedney and I will open again but will be looking to do so within a ten mile radius of Spalding and Sutton St James. I want to continue to run our psychic evenings, too.”
Mal and her husband Michael (70) are former hoteliers, running businesses in France and then Suffolk. They are originally from Essex and moved to Lincolnshire to retire before Mal fell in love with the idea of having a tea room.
Herself and Sally have been offering home delivery services of high teas during the pandemic which Mal prepares from home.
They provide all the cups, saucers, plates and teapots to bring a vintage flavour and will also offer teas for Father’s Day on June 21. To book a tea, call Mal on 07368 294143 or Sally on 07825 147737.
