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“If you want the rainbow, you have to put up with the rain.” - Dolly Parton

Lil’s has been hit by an unexpected storm…and it is soul-wrenchingly closing our doors.

We are shocked, heartbroken, irate, but also hopeful, as we share this news. Thanks to you, Lil’s has been a pillar of Covington for almost 7 years. Yet now, due to rent hikes, we are being forced to shift gears, and move in a new direction.  

First and foremost, THANK YOU to everyone who has ever walked through our doors, devoured a bagel & schmear, sat on our Patiyo, given to one of our fundraisers, called us a safe space, added a tip, sent us a card, answered our question of the week, eaten Queer soup, put hawt sauce on it, rooted for us, helped renovate our space, shown us a smile, rang our doorbell, biked beside us, made us art, walked with us in the Pride parade and supported us through all of our growth. Many of you have been there for Lil’s since our farmers market days, and others just found Lil’s this year. YOU are all amazing…we could not dream of better customers and community.

Then there is our Flam, our team, our crew. The people who roll, boil & bake every bagel, mix every schmear, laugh with every customer, clean every dish, host every event, keep our space inclusive, and uphold the community anchor we strive to be. Without you all, past and present, there would be no Lil’s. We would like to give a shout out to all of those Flam that made us Lil’s. In semi chronological order…Sam, Sean, Gabrielle, Mahmoud , Keirstin, Hanna, Missy, David, Julie, Sarah L, Annie, Devan, Jess, Adrienne, Helena, Ethan, Emmy, Kirken, Jasper, Rhys, Jack, Sav, Sarah B, Hannah, Sydney, Cole, Sevan, Nicki, Kayla, Syd, Jon, Leah, Jules, Eben, Claire, Boby, Haley, Jaiden, & Renee.

The good news is, this is not goodbye. While Lil’s as we all know it is going to be a thing of the past, our hawtness will live on. We will be making an announcement about our future ventures in January, so stay tuned. By the end of the month, the bagels will be gone, but the possibilities are endless…and everything will still obviously be made with 100% chutzpah. 

How could this happen? Lil’s is more successful than ever before. We weathered Covid and came out even stronger on the other side. We are not understaffed. Inflation has not put us under water. 

This departure is not by choice. Lil’s fought the fight. We have been in negotiations with our landlord for almost a year, we made all the compromises, but in the end they wanted more than what is fair. They wanted to triple, and eventually quadruple our rent, and we weren’t willing to go bankrupt. We do not believe that money, alone, should come first…in front of the neighborhood, in front of the community, in front of safe spaces, in front of local food, in front of equality, and in front of you and us. 

 We have made peace with the fact that the harsh reality might be for the best. Lil’s does not want to be in business with those who appear to put wealth that far above the community and values. We are too proud for this, and care too much. We are not giving up, we are instead moving forward.  

We realize that so many of you will want to rally for us, and we appreciate that more than you will ever know. If you want to do something…stay active in your community, continue to support your local businesses, and show up everyday in the name of equality. 

Our last bagel will be sold by the end of December. Our last party will be January 14th. Our mission to be a community anchor will live on forever…and we hope you will always be there for the journey.

Love, 

Lil’s

 Weekdays 7:30am-2pm

Weekends 8am-2pm

308 Greenup St. in the COV

859-412-6922

 

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Where are the GOOD Bagels?

308 Greenup St.  in the Cov.

Weekdays 7am-2pm

Weekends 8am-2pm

 

 

 

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