Rumors of Closings

Many of you know me by now, so I hope the following will be taken as input from the owner-side ( as it is intended) and not as criticism:

I know we all love to know "the latest", but please keep in mind when you are posting that announcing something is closed or going to be closing before the owner makes an official announcement (with a sign in the window or phone disconnected) can cause irreparable harm in an already difficult industry.

Recently we've had a couple of restaurants announced as "closed' that were not actually closed; that causes people to stop driving to those places to eat- both those who read this board, and those that hear the rumor. Some will never go back because they don't frequent that area and don't now know otherwise, so the business is lost. Potentially this can turn into a self-fullfilling prophecy. We also had someone other than the owner announcing that Luna Mercato was looking for a buyer. While I don't know this from Ed, those kind of announcements can negatively impact the possible sale price of a business. And I know no one on this board wants to do that.

In our case, a well-meaning poster announced our closing the day before we were planning to, which meant we didn't get to personally tell our cooking class chefs, and class attendees before announcing as we had carefully planned to do. Instead we spent a hysterical day responding to phone calls which we could ill-afford to do, and had some (legitimately) upset chefs. It made a very difficult decision even more painful.

So please, just think about the potential impact before posting info about a business' "health": web info travels fast and is very hard to "take back" once it's out there.

Thanks,
Deb

[Robin Garr]

Good advice. Deb. It's challenging, because this is an online watering hole for foodies and restaurant people, and in a very real way, it's "new media," and news, even in rough-and-ready community-based form, is a big part of what we do here.

So I'm not inclined to suggest that we DON'T post restaurant news.

But we used to have a very simple policy, and it might be time to revisit it again: If you see a restaurant and it looks closed, stop and knock, look for a note on the door (or all the furniture gone from inside), or call them on the phone. You may get a more solid confirmation ("The number you have dialed is not a working number"), or you may learn that your guess was offbase. It doesn't take long to follow-up, and it's worth the effort.

Robin,

I absolutely agree it's vital that this site post industry news. My only concern is that people do "fact checking" as you suggested before they post (just like a responsible media person would do), and give some thought as to whether what they are posting could do harm to someone's business.

I know the last thing posters on this site want to do is hurt a local, independent business, but that's what could happen to some place like Sala Thai or others if incorrect info gets posted. What was that WWII saying? "Loose lips sink ships" ...

Deb

Deb .. Obviously the closing post was correct. It could only have occurred if you told someone that passed it on.

I don't think you can blame anyone but yourself for the problems that happened.

This is why so many businesses, including restaurants, don't tell anyone ahead of time. Just close and call employees right before they are due to show up and put a note on the door.

Deb .. Obviously the closing post was correct. It could only have occurred if you told someone that passed it on.

I don't think you can blame anyone but yourself for the problems that happened.

Steve:
Your views are very insensitive to say the least. Deb obviously had to discuss the upcoming events with someone to releave some of the of pressure on herself and to her keep her sanity. She discussed it with some one she must of trusted or else she wouldn't have talked about it. That person whoever it was betrayed her trust and caused her much pain. That person is the one to blame, not her. You're forgetting that this business was a personal passion, not a corporation. Decisions are not easy to make in these circumstances and feedback from a trusted friend is critical. In most cases, when a restaurant closes there is much discussion prior to the decision be made, employees are not involved but others are. In this case Deb was trying to do the same thing.

"Steve:
Your views are very insensitive to say the least"

And your point is .. what?

Steve,

I'm not blaming anyone about our situation: my point was that the person posting meant no harm- actually was trying to help- but did so by not realizing that there were reasons why we didn't want it made public.

You are right about the notification at lot of places, and that's really sad. Our business ethics were that we wanted employees and affected people to know ahead of closing the doors because it affected them too- we also gave two week's severance to our employees.

But the above was intended only as an aside from personal experience. My point of the post was: please take to extra time to verify your facts ( especially regarding closures) before posting or you could potentially hurt someone's business. I think most folks pass along info without realizing the problems it can cause, and just wanted them to see it from the other side.

Deb

Mark,

Thanks for the thoughtful comments .

Just to clarify: no trusts were broken. Conversation with a family-member was overheard by a well-meaning person. This is a very small town some times and these things happen, but don't be concerned that anyone broke our trust.

And one more point of clarification: I'm not really sure I still have ( or ever had) my sanity...

Deb

For the third time now.....I apologize...I made a mistake and I already felt like a total arse because it was my first post here. Now I feel like a bigger one.

Again, I apologize.

Back to lurking for me....sigh

Steve,

I'm not blaming anyone about our situation: my point was that the person posting meant no harm- actually was trying to help- but did so by not realizing that there were reasons why we didn't want it made public.

You are right about the notification at lot of places, and that's really sad. Our business ethics were that we wanted employees and affected people to know ahead of closing the doors because it affected them too- we also gave two week's severance to our employees.

But the above was intended only as an aside from personal experience. My point of the post was: please you take to extra time to verify your facts ( especially regarding closures) before posting or you could potentially hurt someone's business. I think most folks pass along info without realizing the problems it can cause, and just wanted them to see it from the other side.

Deb

I applaud your decision to give employees severance pay. Most don't. I understand your desire to let employees and others have advance notice of closing.

And your point is .. what?

Never mind. I take back what I originally wrote after reading your last post, which you posted while I was typing mine.

Amy,

Don't feel bad about it. You are not the first one to do this by accident: I can think of several that have happened over the past year, and I'm sure many more before that. That's why I put my post out.

And please don't let it turn you into a "lurker", what keeps this forum vibrant is lots of input/insights from lots of people- not just a few of us.

Deb

[Robin Garr]

For the third time now.....I apologize...I made a mistake and I already felt like a total arse because it was my first post here. Now I feel like a bigger one.

Again, I apologize.

Back to lurking for me....sigh

Amy, please don't feel that way. Deb's point is a good one, but don't take it as a personal criticism. You saw something that concerned you. You shared it in good faith. Now we're having a broader discussion, but we don't mean it as picking on you, and nobody is holding it against you.

Please be assured that you're welcome here, and there are no demerits on your report card. No need to go into lurk mode!

For the third time now.....I apologize...I made a mistake and I already felt like a total arse because it was my first post here. Now I feel like a bigger one.

Again, I apologize.

Back to lurking for me....sigh

Amy, I would hope this episode doesn't keep you from contributing to this forum...I recall one of my first topics (My excitement about a brand new gourmet coffee shop chain opening on Louisville's Hurstborne corrider)...And let me tell ya...I got it pretty good from some of the forum members who thought I might be a spammer...Besides, this state loves a good comeback story...If you need a little inspiration...Just look at UK's 2006 and 2007 football teams...

coming out of lurking.....lol

Thanks everyone! I just felt really embarassed as it was about my post and then when I thought it was kinda down in the forum and noone would notice again, this post was brought up, so I got embarassed again...

I promise to still post. Thank goodness my report card is still clean!!!