Hello friends of the RBD
I have some sad news for you today. Our good friends at the Queen Bee have rather suddenly closed this past Saturday. Apparently their business was doing pretty well but the workload was just getting too much for them to manage.
We’ve been really fortunate to have Jean and Gary in our neighborhood since they took over the Bee a little while ago they really revived the place (the Bee has operated since the 50’s under various ownerships). Their energy and passion were for the ‘hood quite contagious for us all.
It can be a rough thing trying to do business downtown as the revival is still in its infancy, In the past two years or so we’ve lost 4 RBD members, (Sher Bliss, Brownstone on Main, Johnson’s Fish market and now the Bee), but we’ve gained quite a few new ones too (CJ Daniels, Y Sadiq, Graham’s Office Supply and Flowers on Orchard Lane).
The face of the neighborhood is ever evolving . There are rumors of two, possibly three restaurants moving in (still very preliminary at this point and I’m not at liberty as to say where) and the new High School (the first in downtown in decades) is set to open this fall. The stores may change but as long as new residents keep moving in, things look bright for the RBD, which is emerging as one of the few retail corridors downtown.
BUT Bee fans take heart ! Jean and Gary will still be around. They have decided to take their business to the Pearl Alley’s farmer’s market. You can buy their honey and other products there this summer .
As for the fate of their old space? Well we’ll just have to see.
There was a write up today about the location being the Elizabeth Lessner’s new hot dog restaurant location. Columbus is crazy for all Lessner Productions.
http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2008/05/13/rest_0513.ART_ART_05-13-08_C10_V7A6CDL.html?sid=101
Yup actually found about this friday, but didn’t want to scoop Liz’s press. I didn’t think she’d get this much press already to be honest for something that’s two months away! pretty impressive stuff.
I wanted to to give the Bee it’s own sendoff. The place deserved the be more than a footnote .