Colorado Springs Michelle’s Restaurant Closes Suddenly

By: Tak Landrock

COLORADO SPRINGS- It was a Colorado Springs hot spot in its hayday. Michelle’s Candies was a place to take your dates on Friday night to get some ice cream and candy, but now it’s only a memory.

On Sunday night, the owner Andy Michopoulos, closed up shop because of slow business on the restaurant side. “When we opened up there were a few restaurants downtown, but now there are hundreds and coping was hard,” says Michopoulos. He also says two failed ventures with stores in Denver and at the Citadel Mall also added to the candy shops downfall.

Michopoulos says candy sales were good six months out of the year, but it was the other six months that were a struggle.

According to Michelle’s website, four generations have run the candy shop and restaurant, which opened in 1952. It was known around the country for its candies and ice cream, even the Food Network came to town to highlight the restaurant’s ice cream sundae.

Michopoulos says he is looking at opening another shop down the road, “Hopefully in the future, we’ll see if there is a way to bring ice cream and candy without the restaurant.”

This is the second ice cream shop to close in the downtown area this year as Cold Stone closed its downtown locations because of struggling sales.