After 23 years of serving Guyana with “genuine creole food”, owner of the Jerries Restaurant and Bar, Jerry Bacchus, yesterday confirmed the closing of the franchise.
In an interview with Stabroek News, Bacchus said that within the next three months he will be closing all four of the restaurants that are left in Jerries’ franchise. The four restaurants, ‘All night long’, at Waterloo Street, ‘Runway’, at Ogle, ‘Tight n Sweet’, at Robb Street, and ‘Auntie Rosie’, located in the Courts building on Main Street, collectively with 45 staff, will close their doors in the next three months. Bacchus said the restaurants will shut in a phased manner with the last one being the Waterloo Street headquarters branch.
While some people have been linking the imminent closing of the franchise to the change in government, Bacchus told Stabroek News that such claims are “absolutely false”.
“After 23 years it’s hard to bow out of a business like that. It’s like my baby that I have taken care of for 23 years,” Bacchus said, pointing out that factors such as the current state of the economy is one of the main reasons why he made such a bold decision to end his 23-year love affair with his prized business.
“I would be a clown to close at 2AM when everyone else is opened,” Bacchus stated, though he pointed out that the implementation of the prohibition of the sale of alcohol beyond 2AM does not affect his decision. He said that while some may think otherwise, he is in full support of the decision to limit the sale of alcohol beyond a certain point. “I don’t support Styrofoam boxes but I can’t start using cardboard boxes because then I have to raise the price for my food and that will be bad for business,” he explained.
Bacchus also stated that looming and developing competition, the gold price rapidly dropping and his own failings are all to be blamed for the pending closure.
“We have a fake economy. Whether we like it or not, our economy runs parallel to a lot of illegal activities that goes on in the country. That doesn’t mean that I condone it, but it’s the truth,” he further said.
“Every day there is increasing competition. Fast food joints are opening rapidly right around the corner and it’s not that I can’t compete with them, but it’s more difficult when my pride is Guyanese culture,” Bacchus said, highlighting that his franchise has always focused on “real Guyanese creole food” and on giving the “small man a welcoming feeling”.
Bacchus said that even though the decision seems to have been sudden and abrupt, he has been thinking about it since he started feeling the pressure of the economy in 2013. “It was looming, the decision to end it. The bank advised me to start dropping staff but I just couldn’t do that. It was a hard decision but I made it with pride,” Bacchus explained.
Bacchus told Stabroek News that the country’s economy is approaching a difficult stage rapidly. He highlighted several times that it is hard for the small man to live in Guyana.
Speaking in Portuguese with translation done by Bacchus, his wife, Paula, who has been living in Guyana since 2007, explained that because of the structure of the economy, the business was not given room to breathe and grow anymore. She said that the franchise still has enough energy to physically fight and go on but they are mentally tired.
Bacchus and his wife explained that they have been working under subpar conditions for some years but still managed to push on with sheer determination and love for their franchise.
While the entire franchise will be closed in about three months, Bacchus did not rule out a return to the food business. He explained that while he started his business from delivering pastries on the road, he has developed an undying love for serving Guyanese with the “best creole food”. He added, “If it does come back, it will not be as big as this”. (Dhanash Ramroop)
