Returning To The Dakota
Seth Doane is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.
Even as an outsider, it was not an easy meeting to witness. In late October we were given a glimpse of the struggling Dakota Restaurant, including full-access to a meeting in which the boss told his staff they may soon have to close the restaurant. He gave them a timeline. If business did not improve in 30 days, they'd all be out of work.
Thirty days have come and gone and the restaurant is still open. But business has not gotten any better. It appears that the end of the restaurant – barring a miracle – is very near.
The Meert family, who own Dakota, have tried everything possible to stay open and are still contemplating making more changes. But with unemployment in the city of Elkhart at 12.2 percent, many of Dakota’s former customers have lost their jobs and, without them, the ability to afford to eat out.
Revenues at the restaurant are down 70 percent from their peak this summer and they owners have dipped into their personal savings accounts, cashed-in part of their 401(k)s and are still struggling to make payroll and pay the bills.
(CBS)
Thirty days have come and gone and the restaurant is still open. But business has not gotten any better. It appears that the end of the restaurant – barring a miracle – is very near.
The Meert family, who own Dakota, have tried everything possible to stay open and are still contemplating making more changes. But with unemployment in the city of Elkhart at 12.2 percent, many of Dakota’s former customers have lost their jobs and, without them, the ability to afford to eat out.
(CBS)
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