ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Another Rochester area destination is closing. This time, it’s POP ROC Cereal Bar & Comic Shop on East Avenue.
The venue never fell into one box; they served cereal, strong coffee, and even comic books. They also prided themselves as a center of pop culture, and would often participate in events like “Star Wars Day” and “Free Comic Book Day.”
In the Facebook post announcing the closure, POP ROC said they would be holding a raffle this coming Saturday, and that “out of this will emerge something very special.”
POP ROC was also involved a social media firestorm last fall, when another “cereal bar,” Morgan’s Cereal Bar, opened across the street.
Fans of both places were calling the opposing restaurant out, but both store owners decided to work together to better their community.
On Tuesday, the cereal bar released another post, addressing what will happen with POP ROC going forward, saying “while POP ROC is done, there will be something even bigger, better and more unique than ever before coming out of this. Stay connected to our social media channels to follow along.”
The post also addressed their decision to give control of the business to owner Jason Hilton’s wife, Angelina Hilton, as well as addressing some rumors regarding one of the former owners, Colin Delaney, saying in part:
“Now maybe you have seen or heard there have been lots of rumors going around about our business and it’s ownership. In the past we have been quiet about this particular issue because we choose to be positive and love the unlovable. It hurts to have to address this nonsense. However, at this point with all the nasty stuff being said and passed around we need to be very clear about this. Colin Delaney, made decisions that went against our core values. There was lying, theft, not following through with responsibilities and misappropriation of funds to name a few... With someone like Colin who has a high profile being handed a WWE contract over a decade ago, he could be doing so much good for this world, especially Rochester, yet he chooses to act like a victim when his actions had consequences. Again, we hate having to share this. It’s hurtful stuff. But after reading some of the lies and comments, we had to bring some things to light.“
