The Windsor, Ontario couple says their dream of starting a business together has been crushed after less than a year due to inflationary pressures.
“Everything looked good on paper. Then everything changed in the economy,” said Baby Backs Restaurant co-owner Steven Burko.
The restaurant’s management announced the impending closure on social media Friday, noting it was “the right decision in these economic times.”
According to Burko, the cost of ingredients has risen to a point he didn’t anticipate when the couple took over the restaurant’s lease just eight months ago.
“The lettuce, the tomatoes, everything that we need for the toppings, our salad, the pasta — everything is going up, so that’s where we’re struggling,” Burko said.
But the current situation with Windsor’s auto sector also played a role in management’s decision to step down, Berco added.
That’s because the restaurant is located on Pillette Road, about a five-minute drive from the Windsor Assembly Plant (WAP), which has been shut down frequently in recent months.
Baby Backs Restaurant is also a five-minute drive from the Syncreon feed plant.
On Thursday, Stellantis confirmed to CTV News that work currently being done at the Syncreon plant for Windsor Assembly will be moved out of the feeder plant and moved inside the WAP.
“That’s another reason why we didn’t want to raise our prices because we have a lot of customers from there,” Burko said, adding that the restaurant has already tried to raise its prices slightly but didn’t want to risk “overshooting its demographic price’. “
“With gas prices going up, people have less money to spend. We see that our revenue is not as good as it was.”
Financial experts earlier said the rate of inflation had risen to its highest level in nearly seven decades.
Part of the increase includes the price of food, which increased by about 10 percent compared to last year.
Burko says he had big plans for the restaurant, including painting the restaurant and renovating the entrance, while still managing to keep five employees on the job.
But with their landlord allowing the couple to get out of their one-year lease early, they now plan to sell whatever they can to try and get their money back.
“My wife and I both work full time and we have to use that money to try and keep this open. We can’t take it anymore,” Burko said, adding that he only has five years left before retirement.
“I worked too hard for too many years. It was a dream and, unfortunately, it has to come to an end.”
The restaurant will serve its last meal under current ownership on July 31.
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