Vienna Pastry last week warned it would have to close its Santa Monica doors of 65 years for good if it did not quickly receive a cash infusion to pay down bills that have accumulated amid the pandemic. That warning is now a reality.
Even with a GoFundMe that continues to trickle in donations for the mainstay bakery, signage recently went up at the corner eatery announcing it had closed as of Monday. “We will be closed effective Monday 1/18/2021,” one sign states; another more dauntingly expresses the dire situation: “Going out of business.”
“People still come in person but they buy a much smaller amount instead of buying for bigger events,” Owner Fred Khadavi told Santa Monica Daily Press last week. “With the same expenses and so much less business we can’t survive. I think we have to close it soon, because we owe a lot of money.”
The timing is certainly unfortunate. Earlier this month the latest round of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was approved by the government and applications are now underway for the initiative designed to provide financial relief to struggling small businesses. The PPP could be used by Vienna to cover its payroll and even pay rent — and all the funds are forgivable if used for those purposes.
this is because the banks gave all the money to the big companies and left the lil mom and pop businesses to die