Ottawa's House of Cheese closes after nearly 50 years

The House of Cheese in Ottawa's ByWard Market has closed its doors for good. (Josh Pringle/CTV News Ottawa)

A beloved cheese store in the ByWard Market has closed its doors after nearly 50 years in business.

The House of Cheese in the ByWard Market Square sits empty on Thursday, and a 'For Lease' sign hangs on the store front.

The family-owned store has been serving Ottawa and the national capital region since 1975, according to its website.

The House of Cheese specialized in hard-to-find imported and domestic cheeses. It also sold deli products, gift baskets, equipment and other specialty items to customers.

Owner Victoria Joyal told CTV News Ottawa the House of Cheese in the ByWard Market and the House of Cheese & Deli in Barrhaven were her husband's businesses.  Brad Joyal died last February.

"My husband, Brad Joyal, was under a lot of stress due to the Covid situation (lack of customers) as well as the Trucker Convoy, that inevitably closed our Byward location for several days, causing a huge financial strain on the business," Joyal said in an email.

"On February 17th, 2022, Brad suffered a major heart attack and passed away due to the amount of financial stress that he was under.

"Since Brad’s passing, I took a leave of absence from work to keep both store locations running and I tried my best to sell both locations. Due to the economic situation of the pending recession and the increasing interest rates, that endeavor was impossible."

Joyal says opening the Barrhaven store was her husband's dream, and she is "very saddened" she had to close the location.

"The past 10 months have been very difficult on myself and my family," Joyal said.

"I appreciated the Barrhaven community supporting my husband over the past 4 years and I’m sorry that we are in this position."