Rikenjaks owner Frankie Randazzo tells 12News while his Southeast Texas weren’t damaged, the big cost of shutting down was also a matter of inconvenient timing.
LUMBERTON, Texas — Southeast Texas continues to thaw after a historic winter storm covered the region with several inches of snow earlier this week.
An unfortunate side effect of the snow is that local businesses who had to close are now fighting to recover lost revenue.
Madison’s and Rikenjaks owner Frankie Randazzo tells 12News while his Southeast Texas and Louisiana businesses weren’t damaged, the big cost of shutting down was also a matter of inconvenient timing.
“So this is just a punch in the face that that all local businesses take,” Randazzo said.
The one-two punch of no cash flow and January due dates hit Randazzo’s businesses where it hurts.
“It’s in the hundreds of thousands of dollars by the time you factor in the inbound lost revenue, the replacement cost for the food that was prepped that didn’t get used in time, that has to be tossed,” said Randazzo. “It’s a cash flow interruption… sales tax, property tax and payroll due all in the same week.”
Randazzo says there’s no bailout for small businesses that were forced to close.
“We’re not a Chili’s, you don’t get the benefit of corporate saying, okay, we can help you with this right now, because we’ve got 2,700 other stores that are going to do just fine,” he said. “A cash flow interruption sometimes is a fatal blow for a lot of local businesses. I don’t think this one will be that level, because it was only a couple of days, but it doesn’t help.”
For employees like Bartender Bailey Myers, a few days off could also mean a few missed payments of her own.
“Being off just two or three days really does affect us,” Myers said. “Driving here was not an option. This morning, they said ‘You don’t have to come in!’ I said, ‘No, I’m coming in. I need to get out of the house! I’m coming in!'”
It’s an icy road to recovery and Randazzo says your support can help him and other local businesses regain traction.
“Find a restaurant that you love, find a local business that you love, support them,” Randazzzo said. “Local businesses need people to get back in those doors and spend that money and have a good time with them.”
Randazzo wants to remind all Southeast Texans to shop small, stay warm and stay hungry for crawfish.