A social club that sought to foster community and creativity while also slinging more than two dozen varieties of banana bread and soups will close at the end of March. 

Aub’s Lounge announced the closure via its social media on March 13. It will hold a farewell event over its last weekend – March 26-29 – with live music, food, vendors and open mic opportunities. 

“This isn’t just a market – it’s a send off. A love letter to everything we built together,” read one of Aub’s Lounge’s posts. “We want YOUR business, your art, your craft, your energy there with us.” 

The social club grew out of owner Aubrieann Johnson’s bread baking business Aub’s Bananza Bread, which she launched in 2021 and the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business profiled in 2023. She opened the lounge almost two years ago as a sober space that hosts live music and open mics as well as serving as a community gathering place. 

It doesn’t sound like Johnson is saying goodbye, though. She wrote in her post that she and her bananza bread will be at venues across the Tri-Cities and beyond. And she intends to create a new and more intentionally built community home again.  

“Thank you for believing in this. Thank you for believing in me,” Johnson wrote. “We are evolving. And I cannot wait for what comes next.”