SALEM, Va. – A popular Salem deli's sudden closure has some people in shock.
O'Brien Meats in Salem announced on Facebook Monday the butcher shop and deli is closing immediately.
According to the owners, this was a decision the family decided was in its best interest.
The owners did not say why.
David Franklin owns Charlotte's Web Antique mall across the street and was a longtime customer of O'Brien Meats.
He said at first he didn't believe the business had actually closed.
"I've had several customers who have eaten there for years. They had the best sandwiches, they had the friendliest people there. Everybody used to go and get their meat and their hamburger from those guys," Franklin said.
The owners of O'Brien Meats say there are no plans to reopen the restaurant, but they hope to sell it to an investor.
They say they will remember the business at one time having seven locations around the Roanoke Valley, how their family has grown up in the business and the "throngs of well-wishers" who stopped by the business when one of its founders died in 2015.