Connor Kus at Hank Zarihs – In times like this deciding to close or change the way you do business might not be the best choice in the long run, Clay Young wanted to make it a bit easier for his tenants.
His company has decided to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to helping tenants in this daunting time by “not expecting its restaurant tenants to pay April’s rent”
City Wok, Main street Coffee, Eleanor’s Pizzeria, Roots, and The Parsonage are just some of the well-known restaurants which would have been affected.
Clay Young – “Pay your employees and take care of your family. We will get through this together” instead of paying rent, uniting words from the owner of these properties.
Karl Lowe – “This is a new experience for everyone,” said co-owner and executive chef at Roots “More people staying home means less money in the restaurants’ pockets, and that of their employees.”
John Myers – “This past weekend, we saw a 60 percent cut in attendance in what we were bringing in revenue-wise,” said, co-owner and chef at The Parsonage.
Karl Lowe -“I’ve been in this industry for 27 years and I’ve never seen anything like this,”
Both he and Myers are heeding Young’s advice.
John Myers – “Mr. Young doing that for us this month…that money goes straight to the employees,”
Karl Lowe said, “We consider them family, we don’t consider them employees”.
A month without having to pay rent would help any business but what will both businesses do next?
John Myers – “That old story about the grasshopper and the ant, we have to be the ant now, We got to really plan and store and calculate everything that is happening and store it up.”
Paula Lowe – “This is a crisis that the restaurant industry has never faced before,” said co-owner and executive chef at Roots. “There’s nothing that we can change. Every day is day-by-day.”
Clay Young – “It was just the right thing to do”
What have you done to help your fellow business? Advertising? Referrals? Maybe even a month’s free rent to your tenant? Comment below or if there’s something that someone could help you with?