After nearly closing, Sarasota cheese shop raises capital to remain open

The owner of Artisan Cheese Company, facing closure due to a host of issues, finds salvation in an angel investor — and her customers.

By Elizabeth King
| 3:55 p.m. May 14, 2025
| 0 Free Articles Remaining!

Artisan Cheese Company owner Louise Converse rings up a customer buying wine, cheese, pasta and accoutrements.

Manatee-Sarasota

A retail cheese business in Sarasota has had a whirlwind of the past two weeks — going from announcing it would be closing to raising more than $30,000 in one day to now committing to remain open.

Louise Converse, known affectionately as “Cheese Louise," has owned Artisan Cheese Company, which is in the Rosemary District, just north of downtown Sarasota, for 13 years. As bills piled up, the cheese connoisseur thought she was going to have to close her shop.

However, thanks to the “overwhelming support” Converse says she received from an angel investor and the community, the store will remain in business — with some possible tweaks to the operating model.