Old Brooklyn Cheese Co., an artisanal cheese and mustard venture in Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood, will close its doors on April 19. Founded in 2016 by Michael Januska, the company went on to open — and then later close — an East Side outpost at Van Aken District's Market Hall.
Januska says that he's seen a dramatic decline in business over the past year or so and to continue on would be unwise.
"More than 50%," he estimates in terms of lost business. "I can't blame any one thing why people aren't coming in anymore, but you know it could be a multitude of things, either people reassessing how they're spending. Who knows what it is; I can't figure it out."
The silver lining in this story is the recent success of POP Mustards, formerly known as Old Brooklyn Mustards.
Last year, Januska partnered with Michael Symon to elevate awareness surrounding those award-winning mustards, which Old Brooklyn has been making and selling for years. Symon, a huge fan of the whole-grain mustards, felt the products were not getting the recognition they deserved. The pair rebranded the products as POP Mustards, and together they have begun securing large distribution deals.
“There are a lot of whole-grain mustards out there, but there’s nothing like what Michael is making,” Symon says. “I feel that there’s an opportunity for a unique whole-seed mustard like this to go nationwide.”
Soon, shoppers across the country will begin seeing those distinctive jars of POP Mustards — "the caviar of mustard" — on store shelves at Sprouts, Meijer and, fingers crossed, Costco.
Januska says that, for now, he has more than enough room at his 5,000-square-foot production facility in Old Brooklyn to fulfill POP Mustards orders for the foreseeable future.
"The only thing I would run out of space for would be warehouse, you know, like finished product, but I'm already looking," he adds.
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