Amid closure, Chichester deli owner reflects on small business struggles

Susan Hart, pictured with her grandchildren at H’Art and Soul Deli in Chichester, decided to close her doors after 18 months of business.

Susan Hart, pictured with her grandchildren at H’Art and Soul Deli in Chichester, decided to close her doors after 18 months of business. Susan Hart / Courtesy

Susan Hart, owner of H'Art and Soul Deli in Chichester, decided to close her doors after 18 months of business.

Susan Hart, owner of H'Art and Soul Deli in Chichester, decided to close her doors after 18 months of business. Susan Hart—Courtesy

By RACHEL WACHMAN

Monitor staff

Published: 11-24-2024 9:00 AM

Modified: 11-25-2024 11:19 AM


The deli was Susan Hart’s dream. For 18 months, she poured her energy, creativity and passion for food into keeping her dream business afloat.

But between permit issues around water usage, staffing troubles, equipment failure and franchises moving in nearby, H’Art & Soul Deli, located on Route 4 in Chichester, has chosen to close its doors.

“This is very, very heart-wrenching,” Hart said.

Hart had previously worked as a commercial property manager, but when she saw an opportunity to bring a fresh food establishment to Chichester, she took the leap, eager to give the deli her heart and soul.

“I’ve always had my hands into the food industry,” she said. “My family taught me a very valuable skill of hospitality. I think it was a combination of loving to cook, watching people eat and feeding them good food.”

Small business struggles

Hart began the deli and picked the name with the intention of offering art classes as a means of fostering community while bringing in additional income. But the artistic part of the establishment never came to fruition.

“When you’re operating a business 11 to 16 hours every day, seven days a week, and you’re pretty much alone doing it, it makes it really, really tough to have any other endeavors going on at the same time,” said Hart, who has been an artist for decades.

From the start, she faced challenges regarding the building’s septic regulations, which stipulated that she could provide only up to three seats for customers because of the total estimated water usage per person. She had hoped for a larger seating capacity, so she tried to work with the state Department of Environmental Services but was told the regulation would not be changed unless the septic capacity was increased.

Article continues after...

Yesterday's Most Read Articles

Hundreds rally against Trump agenda at NH state house
64 skiers, stranded on lift at Cannon Mountain, lowered to the ground by ropes
Murphy to depart as Concord superintendent in 2026
Special education takes center stage at Epsom school budget deliberative session
Emotions spill out at Merrimack Valley schools budget hearing following $2m overspending disclosure
Opinion: A triumph in the fight to safeguard women’s reproductive health in New Hampshire

Ted Diers, assistant director of the Water Division at the Department of Environmental Services, explained that the size of the septic system determines how many people can be seated in an establishment based on projected bathroom use and other water factors.

“The way septic systems are sized in general is by the capacity of the land to actually absorb that water – treat that waste – so you don’t impact your neighbors,” Diers said.

For business owners who want to alter the use of their establishment, adding more people increases flow into the septic system, which is regulated at the design phase, Diers added.

Updating the system would’ve cost thousands of dollars, something that Hart couldn’t afford to do. She expressed frustration at feeling like the regulations were not flexible to fit her business model.

“Most people were coming in here to grab a sandwich on their lunch hour,” she said. “We did the majority of our business at lunchtime. They’re not coming here to use the bathroom. They come in to grab a quick sandwich and run back to their jobs.”

Her landlord, David Kingston, said there is “only so much a piece of land can provide.” He encouraged potential landlords and tenants to assess septic information about a given property through town hall records.

To offset the limited amount of seating she could offer, Hart sought to obtain a wholesale license that would allow her to prepare additional sandwiches in the deli and sell them at other locations but was she said she denied due the space’s limitations. Hart tried to make due by building up a customer base of lunchtime regulars – many of whom have been by the deli in recent weeks to give her hugs after she announced the intended closing.

Another factor in her decision was the impact of several franchises nearby, including Wendy’s, Common Man, Subway and Domino’s.

“That’s where I can’t compete. I can’t compete with that kind of marketing,” she said. “I can’t compete with a dollar menu down the road or buy one, get one free. We don’t offer delivery. We’re just a small mom-and-pop operation. It’s not like I can stop serving customers, take an online order and then go and deliver it. It’s just pretty much me here.”

To make matters worse, the deli experienced equipment failure multiple times that left Hart with costly losses in food. She kept pushing through and doing everything she could to keep creating the food her customers valued. But the long hours and monetary losses began taking a toll.

“Sometimes we have to make sacrifices to be able to make your dreams happen,” she said. “I’ve been doing a lot of sacrificing. When push comes to shove, it’s like, how much more do you want to keep sacrificing?”

Looking back, moving forward

A few weeks ago on a Sunday – which used to be the busiest day of the week – Hart stood by the window watching people go to Domino’s, which opened in the same strip mall as the deli. Tears running down her face, she knew at that moment that she needed to close.

“I’m going to miss my customers the most because this is a great community, and I love the people in this community – every last one of them. They’ve made me feel welcome,” Hart said. “I want to thank everybody for their love and their support, and their encouragement,”

Friday was her final day open. She spent the week keeping the doors open until the food ran out. Now, Hart has turned her attention to packing up the place and finding new homes for the equipment and decorations.

“All vendors will be paid, but I’m walking away from this place broke. I still am going to be carrying personal loans, and any credit card usage that I had, that’s all still got to be all paid off. So it’s going to be a struggle for me for the next couple of years,” she said.

But despite the lasting financial strain, Hart remains glad – and grateful – that she poured her heart and soul into the deli, whose name proved very apt, she joked. She added how proud she is of the deli’s high online ratings.

Hart hopes to remain in the food industry and find ways to combine her love of food with her passion for art.

“I’m not one of those to sit and cry about the past,” she said. “You can’t. The past is the past. I’m in the present now. There’s always something in the future. I’ve done so many things. I’ve always traveled the roads less traveled, just for the adventure of it.”

Rachel Wachman can be reached at rwachman@ cmonitor.com.