Customers rally to save Indiana restaurant denied small loan
MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) - Once COVID-19 hit, Merk's Family Dining saw a dramatic decrease in sales, causing management to lay off most of the 25-person staff.
The mom-and-pop restaurant has been owned and operated by Tim Merkel and his wife, Beth, for almost seven years, most of those at the Delaware County Regional Airport.
'œWhen this thing happened, I don't know if people didn't know we were still open, or they thought we closed; it just got really slow,'ť Tim Merkel said.
Knowing his restaurant was in jeopardy, Merkel quickly applied for a small business loan, part of the government's coronavirus relief.
However, the Merkels were denied a loan. Not sure what to do next, Beth Merkel took to Facebook. On their restaurant's page, Beth posted that Merk's Family Dining would have to close.
'œBig business won us out! They got the money and we didn't! This may very well be our last week in business,'ť the post stated. 'œWe tried to stay open... opened and sat here hour after hour for carry outs... can't pay the bills.'ť
Tim Merkel wasn't sure how many people followed his restaurant on the social media site, but once the message went up, customers started coming back.
On Saturday, the restaurant was slammed. Merkel said there were too few staff members and they had a hard time keeping up with orders. They even ran out of carryout containers. People began pitching in, bringing what supplies they could.
'œIt was amazing. All our regular customers started coming back,'ť Merkel said. 'œIt was emotional, to be honest. There's a lot of good people in this town.'ť
While things looked bleak last week, Merkel is now taking it on a day-by-day basis, but he thinks the restaurant will survive, thanks to a resurgence in community support and another round of small business loans.
On April 20, USA Today reported a deal on an emergency $300 billion relief package for small businesses could soon be approved.
The money would replenish the previous program, which already depleted an initial $350 billion in less than two weeks due to coronavirus.
Merkel is hopeful he'll get a loan this time around.
'œWe've worked our whole lives. Both my wife and I are 60 years old and we still work every day, seven days a week, and we need help,'ť Merkel said. 'œI know the government is trying to do what they can, but a lot of us slipped through the cracks, and a lot of people got money that didn't need it.'ť
One of those companies was Shake Shack, a national chain of 189 restaurants, which plans to return its $10 million stimulus fund.
While Merk's made money this past weekend, just securing food might be an issue in the future. Gordon Food Services, one of the restaurant's purveyors, has stopped its credit program. Those using their service have to pay for what they get now.
'œThey're in the same predicament as everyone else,'ť Merkel said. 'œWe can only buy what we can afford to buy. It's kind of difficult with the money we've been bringing in.'ť
In the meantime, Merk's Family Dining is partnering with the Muncie Meijer, which is wanting to feed employees with food from local restaurants every Friday, Merkel said.
Looking to the future, Merkel said things won't return to normal quickly at Merk's Family Dining. Once the restaurant is open for dine-in again, he expects to limit his seating to 50. The location has 140 seats.
He said continuing carryout will help them stay afloat.
'œWe're trying so hard to stay open, and I didn't expect the response that we got, but I am overwhelmed by it and I appreciate it so much,'ť Merkel said. 'œMy wife is just totally emotional about it. She can't get off her phone from all the messages. It's awesome, it really is. I want people to know that, how much we appreciate that.'ť
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Source: T he Star Press