Another downtown Puyallup restaurant closes, but at least one will reopen with new ownership

Another downtown Puyallup food business, the second in a month, has announced it is closing.

The last day of business for My Cheese Shoppe, a six-year-old sandwich cafe and cheese store, will be June 24.

The closure follows the announcement that Arista, the fresh pasta restaurant, also has closed downtown. Another East Pierce restaurant is slated to open in that space.

Laurie Sanders-Polen opened My Cheese Shoppe on June 15, 2011 at 202 S. Meridian. It was her first business following several years working for the cheese import company, Peterson Cheese, in Auburn. That regionally known company supplies local restaurants with gourmet cheeses and other imported items.

My Cheese Shoppe became Puyallup’s go-to cheese counter for everything from burrata to chevre. It also offered a menu of gourmet deli sandwiches and more recently, the area’s only cafe to serve raclette.

Sanders-Polen cited slow business for the closure. “We have a lot of amazing shopping guests who have become like our friends over the years, but there just hasn’t been enough people shopping My Cheese Shoppe on a consistent enough basis to keep us going,” she said.

She said she’s not sure what’s next for her, but she will take time off from running a business before starting another, which is a possibility. She said she’ll keep the My Cheese Shoppe Facebook page active for future announcements.

Another Puyallup-area business has its eye on My Cheese Shoppe’s storefront, but has not yet signed a lease. Stay tuned for details on that.

As for Arista’s space, a sign went up on the building announcing the opening of Aversano’s, the East Pierce Italian restaurant in Sumner that has a following for its salad bar, brick-oven pizza and calzones. More details coming soon.

This story was originally published June 6, 2017 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Another downtown Puyallup restaurant closes, but at least one will reopen with new ownership."