Three local businesses with a combined 174 years serving Butler County residents have decided to close up shop within the past month.

Mary’s Cake, Candy and Party Supplies in the Bon Aire Shopping Center will close April 29 after 47 years of supplying area cake makers and candy creators.

“It’s been our life. We hate to close,” said manager Tina Villaire. “It’s like closing down the girlfriend club.”

She said many customers have been coming in for years to buy supplies for communion, graduation, wedding, birthday and other cakes as well as molds, chocolate and other supplies for making candy. “We have a wonderful group of women,” Villaire said. “We really treasure them.”

Roxy’s Diner on Route 422 in Prospect will serve its final meal May 9 after 72 years of feeding local residents and tourists.

Jacqueline Miller, who has owned Roxy’s since August 2016, said she is heartbroken about it, but “my decision is made.”

After the closing, Miller said she will take a few weeks to sell the equipment and other restaurant items.

And Fudoli Music and Repair Center on Main Street in Butler closed its doors in mid-March.

A Fudoli music shop has been a mainstay in the Butler area for at least 55 years.

It’s sad to see these businesses, which have been a part of the fabric of our community for nearly two centuries close their doors.

Various reasons were given for the closures, including a decline in sales due to the COVID-19 pandemic and that it simply was time to retire.

Their presensce will be missed.

Generations of Butler County families share wonderful memories of these establishments.

We are hopeful new businesses with local ownership — not vanilla retail chains with no local connection or personality — will move into these soon-to-be-vacant locations and start to create decades of future memories for Butler Countians.

— JGG