After 30 years on Church Street in Burlington, the Red Onion Café will move to Charlotte at the end of October.

The Red Onion will sell its beloved sandwiches, soups, salads and homemade breads from a retail location in Charlotte Crossings, the multi-use commercial building at 3488 Route 7.

Owner Mickey West announced the move in a press release Thursday. In July, West told Seven Days she was looking to relocate due to the effects of the pandemic.

"I'm not going to be here this winter," she said at the time, referring to the pink-walled café on the Church Street Marketplace. "I can't afford this place."

West explained that business was roughly 30 percent of what it had been pre-pandemic. Typically, the café relies on summer foot traffic on the Marketplace to sustain it through the year. With limited tourism this year, the business didn't see its usual seasonal bump.

"I didn't want to do this," West said in July, after launching a GoFundMe online campaign to raise money to pay back rent and move the restaurant to a cheaper location. The high rent on Church Street had her "in a hole" with her landlord even prior to the COVID-19 shutdown, she added.

Moving to Charlotte was a "no-brainer," West said in the release. "I'll be closer to home, on busy Route 7, serving my food to a great community."

In addition to hefty sandwiches such as the "Famous Red Onion," the new location will offer prepared foods for customers to reheat at home, breakfast items, coffee and Vermont merchandise.

Charlotte Crossings hosted several food truck and pop-up restaurant events this summer. Through those offerings, building owner Mike Dunbar saw that "the greater Charlotte area is hungry for food options," he said in the release. "We're thrilled that Mickey will bring breakfast, lunch and to-go prepared foods to Charlotte."

The new Red Onion location is expected to open mid-November.

Updated Monday, October 5, 2020