From Niya at Lot 46 Music Bar:
Hello neighbors and friends. This is an incredibly vulnerable and long post, so bear with me. I have been working on naming my values and Transparency is one of my guiding values. So in the spirit of transparency (and vulnerability). Here it goes…I woke at 3:30am stressing about first our sweet girl who has been home sick since Thursday and has been fighting something for going on 2 months, praying that she wakes up feeling better, although I hear her coughing in her sleep as we speak- oof, hard shit, also, I am worried the contractor I am relying on to finish a project by this morning so we can pass our electrical inspection might not finish the job, but what has been keeping me up most nights the last few weeks is how to keep my business and this massive project alive. Many of you know our story but if you don’t…
Hi! I am Niya, mom to Harlow, Kindergartner at Edison. My husband Grant and I started Local 46 almost 12 years ago. It was a special place, my first baby really, and we were able to host and support many special occasions and fundraisers there, we have always believed in supporting our local schools and other community organizations even long before we became parents ourselves. Our lease was up in 2022 and the property owners sold to big time developers, I am sure you have seen the huge complex going where our charming little building stood for some 100 years before. It was a painful time; I will always miss that place. It was also very hard professionally to feel like I had nothing to show for after dedicating 11 years of my life to a business that proved to be successful during the years we were open and even managed to survive Covid ( I know we have a lot to show but you know what I am saying).
Some people had the idea that WE sold to developers and made millions. Nope, nada, I would have never sold that sacred spot. Last year we purchased Edgewater Inn Pizza, we were able to purchase the land there so we luckily won’t have the same fate as we did at Local. Our business plan included building out a similar concept as Local 46 on the west side along with, of course, preserving the legacy of the 70 year old Edgewater Inn that I grew up going to. After much due diligence, we decided to go for it. I own the businesses, Edgewater Inn and soon to be (grand opening in 9 days if things go our way) Lot 46 Music Bar (technically I own 73.3% of it with 2 local, silent partners splitting the other 26.6%) My husband and I own 33.3% of the land with 2 local small business owners holding the other 33.3% respectively. We knew it would be a stretch to have our tiny pizzeria support the massive loan we took on but had faith that if we could get Lot 46 open ASAP we could make it happen.
Well, it is not an unusual story but as you can imagine, the project has been met with some substantial obstacles that have proven to be incredibly expensive. We are so close to having the inside done but have a long way to go on the biergarten financially speaking and I am hustling every angle to try and pay the bills right now. Every bill that comes at me seems to be double what I expected. Every time I turn around it seems to be another huge, unexpected expense. Plumbing? oh a leak and have to re-do the main connection, draft system uh oh, have to replace it, convection oven, dead, must replace, 2 fire rated doors that somehow got overlooked (so we have to rip out walls and drywall that was already finished and have painters come back out etc. etc), that’ll be $20,000. I could go on and on, I’m not exaggerating.
Throw in the massive city streetscape that has shut down 25th Ave costing us thousands in lost revenue every week for months, it’s been tough. We have already leveraged every personal asset to dump into the project, we have even taken a loan from one of our long-time employees, but that $25k came and went with one bill to the contractor. I hate sounding desperate, I hear it in my words to you now. I am trying not to feel embarrassed. I am a smart businesswoman, many of you know this, this is really hard for me to write but I am feeling in over my head.
With that being said, I do feel 100% confident that we can see this through, and look forward to many years ahead of sharing a beautiful, thriving, community gathering space that can once again host great music, all the special occasions and school fundraisers, but we need a little (lot) of help. Without having to sell off shares (which I honestly don’t even have the time or energy to try and put together right now) I decided to pull my tired ass out of bed and out of my head and just lay it all out there and ask our community for support. I am too prideful to do a Go Fund me for a business project, I have never asked for a handout in my life. So, I have created a program that I think could be mutually beneficial! VIP Memberships to Lot 46 and Edgewater Inn.
The return on investment, if you take full advantage of the perks, could prove to be a huge pay off to you, and would help this small business mama get through the next few months of costs. I hope you might consider taking a peek at our Vinyl, Cassette and 8Track memberships to see if it might be a good fit or something you might be able to support. I am also open to other ideas, of course! Have a small business? Host your staff or client appreciation party with us on our soon to be beautiful biergarten, put down a deposit today, and it can be a credit towards food and beverage when you host your party or event! Buy a gift card https://www.toasttab.com/edgewater-inn/giftcards (can be used at Lot46 or Edgewater Inn) Angel investors, big or small, sure! 😉 Our venmo is @edgewaterinnpizza.
I have seen how powerful this community is and I thank you so much for all the support over the years as a business owner and a mama. Thank you for taking time out of your day to read this very long-winded post. Now, I am going to crawl in next to my baby girl and pray for sleep
With much love, gratitude and humility.
Niya
Joel has been a resident of Edgewater, Colorado with his family since 2012. He is the Executive Director of local education nonprofit Edgewater Collective and Editor of the Edgewater Echo.
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