Tracey's Original Irish Channel Bar is closing its doors.
"For 26 years, we have served the Irish Channel... We hate to let you down now," Owner Jeffrey Carreras posted on Facebook. "We fought and fought, but we're out of options."
He says the final blow to a series of financial challenges was the lost revenue from the cancelation of the St. Patrick's Day parade this year.
In fact, Carreras summed up the reason why he's closing Tracey's in one word: "economy."
"Everybody's kind of watching their budgets. I don't know if it's not so much the stock market or anything like that, but I think people are more conservative now," Carreras said. "It's pretty tough on the checkbook and the bank account. We just have to regroup."
Carreras says he's leaving open the opportunity to reopen Tracey's in the future. For now, he leaves the bar business with nothing but gratitude for his loyal customers.
"We love you," Carreras said while trying to fight back tears. "We love the whole family, the whole neighborhood, and all the people who supported us throughout the years. I can't say 'thank you' enough."
He elaborated on his feelings in the Facebook post.
"We close our doors with pride in our tradition of good times and laughs, Saints fanaticism, green beer and Jello shots, roast beef po-boys, Buffalo wings and hamburgers."
Tracey's shuts down at the end of this month.
"The last day for Tracey's will be May 31."