durham inc.
TALL ORDER SHARED EXPERIENCES FROM THE HARDY FOLKS WHO OPENED RESTAURANTS DURING THE PANDEMIC BY MATTHEW LARDIE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN MICHAEL SIMPSON
pening a restaurant is an inherently risky prospect at any point – razor-thin margins combined with labor, product and real estate costs make it a business that is certainly not cut out for those looking to make a quick buck. But opening a restaurant in a pandemic? Well, there isn’t data yet on how that goes, but suffice it to say, it is not easy. Durham, like cities and towns across the nation, lost beloved restaurants and bars over the past two years, but many have been able to hang on. Rarer though are those who’ve actually opened new establishments during the pandemic. How did they do it? Well, we decided to ask. Durham Distillery Founder and CEO Melissa Katrincic opened Corpse Reviver Bar & Lounge on Oct. 15, 2020, about five months later than initially planned. Construction on the bar was slated to be nearly finished by April, but as the state went into lockdown, Katrincic slow-rolled the
remaining projects as she waited to see what, if anything, she could do about opening. Corpse Reviver was in a better financial situation than other bars, with funding for the project coming partially from distillery revenues and also from a previous investment that beverage giant Constellation had made in the brand. Still, due to the wording of the legislation Congress passed when creating the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Durham Distillery and Corpse Reviver were now considered J. Lights Market & Cafe owner Jared Burton shows off his restaurant’s buffalo wings a subsidiary of and the salmon BLT with fries. He opened J. Lights, his first restaurant, in fall 2020. Constellation and therefore ineligible for any direct emergency funding. October 2021 has languished Even after she had Sen. Katrincic was able to secure in the pipeline. Richard Burr’s office intervene, a $25,000 Economic Injury “We’ve been waiting in limbo Katrincic said she had no idea Disaster Loan from the U.S. for the EIDL increase loan, about the status of the loan Small Business Administration, which was approved,” she said. increase. “Can you imagine but a subsequent loan increase “We have yet to have a loan signing loan documents and application she submitted in officer assigned.” not getting funded for more
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