A legacy survives, and so may Little Louie's
It's a common sports statement.
Survive and advance.
Pete Weiss is a sports fan - big on Glenbrook North and community sports - and that's kind of how he feels about operating his restaurant, Little Louie's, a Northbrook staple, during a pandemic.
Survive and advance.
The prospect of that happening just became a little more promising.
In response to an email and video he submitted, on Jan. 19 Weiss took a FaceTime call from Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports. Portnoy had started the Barstool Fund, initially seeded out of his own pocket, to assist small business owners stung by the impacts of COVID-19. As of Tuesday morning, the fund had raised more than $29.5 million.
Portnoy selected Little Louie's among the businesses, 181 nationwide at last count, to receive funding from the Barstool Fund.
Weiss, who bought the 53-year-old business from original owner Eddie Glanz in 1999, said he was unsure how much or for how long he'd be funded. ABC-7 originally reported the amount to be $15,000.
"There are a lot of unknowns to this because it's so new, but to be picked out of so many I really feel grateful for the whole process," Weiss said.
"It was a hundred percent random, I had no idea. We don't know (why he was chosen). The only thing I know is what I see on Barstool Fund, is he randomly calls your cellphone. It was so spontaneous and so real. And he's recording it for millions of people to watch."
Reasons? Weiss had a few.
On top of the dramatic loss of in-store business since March, Weiss lost out on the catering business he'd started, buying and rehabilitating his "Louie B. Fresh" food truck to serve social functions and corporate events. Gone were the school and summer camps he brought lunch to. Despite the bust, he felt responsible to keep his employees on staff and paid.
"My staff, they're like family," Weiss said.
Family may have clinched Portnoy's decision. In Weiss' video and email he submitted on Jan. 2 he noted that in 2017 he lost his 9-year-old daughter, Alexa, to a brain tumor after seven years of grueling treatment. In fact, the family started the Alexa Rose Weiss Foundation to help others affected by pediatric brain cancer and childhood cancers.
"Her slogan for her foundation is 'Love never ends,' and Dave's platform for Barstool is directly representative of that," Weiss said.
"Here's someone I don't even know. It's what the world needs right now. The world's forgotten how to be kind to each other. So I think my daughter had a hand in this thing, for sure."
Portnoy wasn't the only one touched.
"I've had so much support, so many people reaching out saying they had never heard my story," said Weiss, who also has a 16-year-old son, Noah.
Alexa's will, Weiss believes, survives.
With it, a chance to advance.
"This is what the world needs, to be kind to each other and to take care of each other," he said. "This is really what the story's about for me, it's about my daughter and how her legacy amazes me every day.
"She was magic. She didn't fear anything and her spirit, and what she showed me, and her strength and resiliency were like nothing I've ever seen."