ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – In the past few weeks, several Rochester businesses announced on social media that they will close their doors. Most recently, EGGFLIP.ROCHESTER wrote its last day is on Friday, June 26.
“The struggle is so painful to just talk about sometimes,” said Sammi Loo, a Rochester entrepreneur with close to two decades of restaurant experience. “The struggle nowadays is so real that sometimes it just made me feel like should we continue doing what we’re doing?”
Loo is the owner of Mezza9 Cafe and Dessert—a business on 3rd Street SW that is set to close at the end of this month. Filled with pink flowers and a whimsical atmosphere, she opened this shop in 2022 with the intent of bringing comfort to people downtown.
“After all the long medicals and after the checkup, you want a place that calms you down and switches your everything that’s going on in your life,” Loo said. “The bleeding was a lot in the funds—the cost and opening it. Every month, I’ve been just going negative and negative.”
Marrow and Yuma Fritas also announced their closures. According to Loo, no one cause led to this difficult decision.
“Beside the rising cost of the food, there is also the payroll,” she said. “Property tax and insurance have doubled since we opened, and going out to eat now is more like a privilege than just like randomly like, ‘hey, let’s go,’ because there’s a lot of things now, and it’s so different.”
Loo is a supporter of the transformation Rochester is undergoing. As a message to the city and its leadership, She said a support plan is necessary for small businesses.
“Yesterday, EGGFLIP opened for eight months and they are closing,” she said. “Think how tough it is to open a business and after eight months and they are closing it? The struggles?”
“Talk to us,” she continued. “Have a meeting. Have a roundtable. Tell us your plan. Tell us how you can support. Not just, ‘I want to support’ or ‘I want to help.’ That doesn’t make sense anymore. Those three words do not work for me.”
Earlier this year, the business owner also posted on social media, stating January was one of the hardest months she has ever experienced in her nearly two decades of running small businesses.
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Dining and Cooking