12/06/2024
Four years ago, my kids and I took the leap of faith and bought the Pizza Co from my mentors when they were ready to retire. My biggest fear was missing the kids and not getting to see them as much. They insisted that it was our business and told me that they expected me to teach them how to run it so they could have their own locations when they got older. Four years later and they are still excited to walk in the door every day to work and put their time into our business.
After we sold the original location to be able to open a second location, we were beyond thrilled to find this building here in Nixa. We loved the historical value of the building and couldnt wait to help preserve its history. We were excited to become a part of the Downtown community and have been so thankful for the love and support we’ve received here in Nixa.
On November 25th, we sat down as a family and went over everything with the building that we have experienced since our lease began in April and…
We will be closing down here in Nixa immediately due to the property maintenance problems we have been having with the building owner as well as some other safety concerns that we have experienced. Their failure to address the ongoing issues have made it impossible to continue operating at the current location here.
Our lease began in April 2024 but we spent the entire month of March DEEP cleaning and having to clear out what was left behind from Morning Day Café. When we first signed the lease which included fixtures and equipment, we had thought that the food in the walk in was from a recent event upstairs but discovered that it was from Morning Day Café. Their last food deliveries were in March 2023 almost a full year earlier! Between the walk in cooler, walk in freezer, chest freezers and dry storage, it took 3 dumpsters to get rid of it all. And hours upon hours of DEEP cleaning and sanitizing due to the extent of the mold.
After plugging in the equipment that was supposed to be in good working condition, we learned that the equipment in the bar area wasn’t repairable due to not being maintained correctly. The bar was also fully stocked but once we looked over the bottles, we realized that every open bottle had to be tossed from the pour spouts not being covered tightly and cloudy or discolored liquids.
Most pieces of kitchen equipment needed to be repaired or weren’t worth putting money into them to repair.
We opened April 22nd and on April 25th, we discovered a waterfall at the back door as well as other water leaks in the dry storage and front window areas. Over 6 months later and no repairs have even been attempted. Every time it rains, it poses a safety hazard for my employees and we are not able to use the door to enter or exit the building. The excess water in the building has also encouraged flying pests and mold and has become a potential safety issue. (Video is from September, 5 months after we first alerted the building owner)
The front in 101 by the window still leaks every storm as well since it wasn’t addressed and the ceiling is peeling more from it.
Both of those were noted on April 25th by text from the building owner and pictures were taken for their insurance soon after.
The water spots in the dry store room that originally we were told were stains from old leaks, are active leaks during a storm and are starting to pose a safety concern for our dry food storage over in 101 since the roof damage has not been addressed.
The office door that the owner said he would find a replacement for in March, still has not been replaced and can only be locked with a master lock.
The led light kit on one of the ceiling fans in 101, still has not been repaired since March.
Sucker Days in May, the AC went out in 101. Due to the age of the inside and outside units, it was recommended to replace since they wouldn’t be able to guarantee any repairs due to age and condition of units. It was repaired cheaply after being out for a week and less than a month later, the AC was out again for another week until the outside unit was finally replaced.
When the Fire Marshall did his walk through in June, he found the extension cords for the water line warmers to be a safety hazard and said they needed be hardwired. He notified the building owner (as did I) who still has not attempted to address the issue and we are not comfortable knowing that they could potentially cause a fire and burn our business down like the fire Marshall addressed with us. The electrician had already replaced a burnt out outlet from where one of the cords was plugged in when we moved in here in March.
The condensation issues in the office damaged important papers, a laptop and marketing materials and the condensation issue was ignored when brought to owners attention.
There have been a lot of issues regarding our lease that we haven’t been comfortable with.
We were closed for the day and received a invoice from our bug guy via email. Since we were closed and they wouldn’t have been able to get in, we contacted them to find out when they’d be back since they wouldn’t have been able to get into our building. We were told that they had called the building owner and were told how to get in. They were told how to get into the building by jimmying the lock. The owner knew the back door at 101 could be jimmied and never attempted to reinforce the door prior to our signing the lease and then let me know through text in June that the door can be jimmied after the bug guy entered that way has been a huge concern to us.
We had been having money, iPads, tablets and other items missing during the month of May. Since we thought the building was secure when we locked it, we had been dealing with it as a possible internal issue with the new employees. As soon as we reinforced the back door in June after the owner told us through text that the door could be jimmied, we no longer had issues with missing items.
30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 120 days, 150 days, 180 days? How many days should a business have to wait for building maintenance to be done?
We kept on hoping that the building owner would address the maintenance issues and tried to be patient but 180 days is ridiculous. We had discussed holding out until the year mark and then leaving if it wasn’t addressed by then. So do we keep investing time, money and putting our heart and soul into a building that the owner could care less about?
The building owner answered that for us on November 18th. When doing the weekly accounting and reconciling our account, our rent check still hadn’t been cashed so I texted the building owner. He replied that it was damaged in the mail and was in pieces in his truck. No one attempted to contact us for a replacement rent check and we have no idea when and if they would have since they had the destroyed check for 2 weeks by that time. I was then texted on the 20th that he needed my check to deposit so he could pay his loan. Does he have money to repair the building if he can’t pay his loan without our rent check?
When I messaged the owner about December being our last month in the building due to him not addressing the maintenance issues, his only reply was that he was including his lawyer in the email for breach of contract and would reply officially at a later date.
And of course there is always the elephant in the room. We became aware of the building owners past, a few weeks after signing the lease and announcing our opening to the public. After talking as a family because the kids are so involved in the business, we felt that the downtown businesses deserved to have a successful restaurant anchored on the corner there and wanted to be a positive addition to the community. And hopefully at some point he would be willing to sell the building. As a business owner, it was frustrating how many times a week that we had to assure customers he had no involvement in our business other than owning the building. As a mom, I appreciated the community keeping people aware.
So where’s the new location? We are still looking for the next location, and will be running our catering and pop up events that are scheduled the next few months out of a local commercial kitchen. We have a lot of awesome RSPC'ians who are invested in our success and are wanting to purchase or develop a property just for the Pizza Co. And others who are helping look for properties for us to lease. It could be 3 months or 12 months before we find the next location.
