Rise-n-Dine has closed the doors to its Emory Village home of 13 years, at 1565 N Decatur Rd, according to an Instagram post on Friday. Ownership cites the Trump Administration’s handling of the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic as the deciding factor.
“Thanks for your support and for hanging with us. But we are finally throwing in the towel, and officially CLOSING,” the social media post, which literally includes a towel and coffee mug dropping and shattering a plate, states. “We hope to Rise Again someday, but Trump wins this battle.”
Rise-n-Dine, like many other small Atlanta businesses, borrowed money from the government in the way of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) which was designed for borrowers to be able to pay its employees, even if they were closed. The PPP funds are forgivable so as long as a borrower — such as Rise-n-Dine — uses the money to keep its entire staff employed, according to the announcement. Rise-n-Dine wasn’t able to bring back all of its employees even with a focus on to-go and outdoor dining because the money coming in would barely cover rent, and ownership is afraid they’ll be forced to fully repay the PPP.
“Our landlord worked with us but wouldn’t give us a break on rent until December,” according to the post. “$8,000 per month rent is too high to make takeout and limited outdoor seating profitable.”
Rise-n-Dine could return, however. “…Later we will post decor items and books we will sell to raise money for Rise-n-Dine 2.0 and repay the PPP Loan money we used for rent. Maybe we will keep this page to share Socially Responsible activity and Social Justice initiatives.”
1 Response
Too many places have closed in this area. What’s going on? Who’s gonna replace all these closed businesses? And I thought my street (North Highland Avenue) was struggling!