Bubba Gandy’s Seafood Cajun Market will be closing its doors on April 8 just before they reach the 5-year mark on their business.

Owner Rhonda Pierce said they were up for lease renewal at the 3600 Frederica Street location and when the end of their yearly contract came around, they thought not to renew their contract.

Some of the decisions came with how COVID-19 shaped how they operated as a business. At the start, they wanted to be a store where people come and go with their goods.

“With COVID, it developed into more of a restaurant and that’s just not the direction we are trying to go. So where we’re at right now, it just doesn’t make sense to keep on going that way,” she said.

Pierce said that she would love for a person to come in and buy the place because she doesn’t want the area to lose the market, but at the same time, she’s happy with departing from the business.

After all the years, she said that she will miss the support from the community the most. They will still be open during normal hours until April 8, so she encourages everyone to come in and purchase what they can because they won’t be available for much longer.

“We really appreciate all their support and we’re sorry that we have to go another way, but this is sadly our time,” Pierce said.