February 22, 2016 2.19 pm This story is over 97 months old

End of an era for Lincoln’s Cheese Society Café

End of an era: The Cheese Society Café is set to close to make room for a new and improved retail store.
Owner of The Cheese Society Kate O'Meara at the retail store on The Strait in Lincoln. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

The Cheese Society Café on St Martin’s Lane in Lincoln will be closing its doors after 15 years of trading to make room for a bigger and better retail store, with an investment of up to £50,000.

The existing lease of The Cheese Society’s retail shop on The Strait is due to expire in mid April.

Due to the growth of the store and mail order side of the business, a decision has been taken to move it to the St Martin’s Lane location.

Despite attempts, business owners said they were unable to secure another location for the café in time.

The Cheese Society Café will close its doors after April 2 in order to refurbish the property and prepare it for reopening as the retail store on April 19.

Kate O’Meara, Director of The Cheese Society, explained that after the refurbishment the new store will provide much needed space for the business to continue to expand.

The company’s mail order service has continued to grow and the current store on The Strait is no longer suitable.

It will now look to expand its offerings including adding new ranges of wines, beers and ciders, which will be specially paired with different cheese.

The new store will also allow for space to hold consultations with customers on tastings for purchases such as wedding ‘cakes’.

Kate said: “We’re sorry to see the café go but the cheese shop has become too small for us and our mail order is important to us.

“We grew out of it faster than we expected too. We didn’t want to renew the lease because of that. It just made sense to move into the bigger premises.

“The new shop will be bigger, better and brighter and we will have one or two things that are unique for Lincoln, including selling wine for special pairings.”