INDIANAPOLIS — At the start of 2020, Ed Rudisell owned four Indianapolis restaurants. Losses from the pandemic forced him to close half of them this year.
“Our sales were $300 a day, $400 a day and our labor was double that. We were losing $4,000 a week," said Rudisell. "There is only so long that you can do that."
Rudisell closed Black Market and Rook in September and says business remains a struggle for his two operating restaurants, The Inferno Room and Siam Square.
“We’re not getting better," he said. "We’re getting worse, and we’re approaching the two worst months for restaurants in a normal year.”
Federal dollars should give some cushion. The stimulus bill approved late Monday allocates more money for a new round of Paycheck Protection Program loans.
Advocates locally said it comes just in time.
“We believe this will save countless restaurants and countless employees, most importantly,” said Patrick Tamm of Indiana's Restaurant and Lodging Association.
While the stimulus bill is a shot in the arm for small businesses, Tamm said he hopes there is more relief to follow.
“There are a lot of tough roads to go," said Tamm. "There are a lot of people in some very significant dire straits, but at least with this, there is some hope that we can bridge this at least into February and March.”
Rudisell has run his numbers and said a new PPP loan will help him get through the next few months. After that, he isn’t sure.
“We are operating on a day-by-day-by-day basis, and so to get through to January 20 or January 30 or February, we don’t know if that is going to happen, so yeah, this relief package is a Band-Aid,” said Rudisell.