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Home > Biz Blog > Marketplace > Here’s cheering for a local restaurateur
Here’s cheering for a local restaurateur
by Robb Hicken
Published: April 12,2010
Time posted: 7:37 am
Tags: banking, restaurants
Robb Hicken
It was a Tuesday afternoon, and already the crowd was thick. People were ordering food, drinks and watching the games on televisions that were mounted overhead. This is a typical sports-food establishment, trying to make ends meet.
During a depression, established restaurants make it through tough economic times. Those places have established clientele, great food and good prices.
Sometimes, the economy throws a curve ball into the mix and no matter how hard or often the owner takes a swing, his swing misses. No fault of their own, just the way the ball rolls off the fingers.
That’s the way it has been for Rob Godsill, owner of the Cheerleaders Sports Bar and Grill.
I spoke with Rob and he plied me with the almost desperate moves he has taken to get the eatery from the losers’ column and to the winners’ column.
“We had a great thing going down there in Eagle,” he said. “But the economy never let us get it off the ground.”
The great thing in Eagle he talks about is the dream of a second Cheerleaders. He moved Cheerleaders from Eagle to Meridian. He says he tried to make a go of it when he opened in the Eagle River development in 2005, but it didn’t grow at the anticipated pace.
Godsill put the property up for sale and even had a buyer lined up.
Two weeks prior to the Meridian opening in March 2008, the deal fell through in Eagle, and keeping the second store open has put immense pressure on the Meridian Cheerleaders growth and survival, Godsill said.
Working with the banks for nearly two years has drained him emotionally. The company has tried to make arrangements to pay back debt, overcome the situation, but the bank (which he chose to avoid naming) appeared to give little leeway in what was to happen.
“I’m not trying to avoid paying my debts,” he said, sipping on his cola. “I’m not that kind of guy. I’m just trying to get the bank to work with me, make a different pay schedule, or something.”
Lest anyone thing Godsill lacks experience as a restaurateur, he owns and operates the Sunset Cafe in Meridian and Middleton. He and his family have been in the business for 20-plus years.
Godsill has been involved with the bank for nearly two years, and says he’s willing to make the payments, work out a plan, come to some type of settlement, but every time it looks like it will close, something else steps in the way.
The building on Highway 40 in Eagle sits empty, filled with restaurant equipment, lacking customers.
I listened to the story with interest, thinking there’s countless numbers out there with similar stories to tell. This crazy recession caught a lot of good-intentioned people off guard.
While not all failures are caught in such a whirlwind with the bank, Godsill’s case may be a good illustration of what can happen. Hopefully the bank and Godsill can get together to iron out the situation before we lose a good restaurant in Eagle.
***
Robb Hicken is managing editor of the Idaho Business Review.
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