On May 26, Clover Food Lab announced it would close its doors in two days. People showed up in droves, traveled near and far for one last popover, and one person even wrote a four-minute tribute song. Less than one week later, Clover announced it is not closing after all, thanks to a new investor.
The company said in a press release Wednesday, June 3 that it received nearly 500 responses to its “Share a memory” form and even had someone bike around Cambridge to visit as many locations as she could.
“At a certain point, the amount of public outcry became so widespread that it led to an email, then a phone call, then several phone calls, then some very late night meetings,” the release said.
Clover will reopen its Cambridge and Boston locations for lunch service on June 9 with breakfast service resuming on June 10.
However, the reason Clover closed in the first place hasn’t changed. “Inflationary pressures on our industry remain an issue,” the chain wrote in an email to Cambridge Day.
The company’s closure was not its first bout with financial instability. In November 2023, Clover filed Chapter 1, Subchapter 5 bankruptcy — established in 2020 for small business restructuring when consumer and real estate markets changed — to overhaul operations. The chain exited bankruptcy in April 2024 with 13 locations and the goal of operating 60 locations by 2029.
On March 30, the company warned its staff and customers Clover would shut down by June if it did not find an investor.
Now, Clover is “hard on implementing operational changes to ensure [its] financial sustainability,” the company told Cambridge Day.
The investor’s identity and amount put into the chain were not disclosed.
It noted that its customers can play a part in its future success by providing feedback on its food — good or bad — telling a friend about Clover, or bringing them to a location.
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