Washington Manor has lost a cultural oasis with the closing of the Mon Cafe, long a favorite place to have coffee, enjoy a conversation, eat breakfast or have lunch.
Owners Doyle and Manami Wegner told the Hayward Daily Review that they felt it was time for them to retire and so they shut their doors last weekend. But they invited someone to take over the shop before its lease expired at the end of the month.
Last Janauary Dick's Restaurant, another popular Manor gathering place, got a new lease on life when a new owner took over and upgraded the establishment.
But most often small businesses are dependent on the determination of the owners, whose efforts are often more a labor of love than a quest for profit.
Not long ago, for instance, the Mutt Hutt on Washington Avenue hung up the closed sign.
And it's been weeks since a sign appeared on the door of Sergio's Pizzeria in the downtown Safeway shopping plaza, saying the shop would be closing temporarily for health reasons.
The sign is still there.
What businesses have closed in your neighborhood? Why? Would you start a business in San Leandro? What kind?
