What is the arc of this story we want to share? How much context is necessary to begin the next chapter? I started writing a post back in January (that I never finished) because there were so many anxious well-wishers and we were stubbornly set against talking to the media. We needed time and we wanted to control the narrative. “Maybe a mistake” we said to each other in hindsight, as there is a lot to cover here now.
Chase’s Daily closed in January because it was losing money. After an intensely busy summer the business had not broken even for the year, and by October was more than $30,000 in the red. Chase’s Daily also closed because of exhaustion and stress. Twenty-two years is a long time to stay true to any vision, and there are all the normal things that happen in life—lives begin and end, communities evolve, personal needs change. Closing seemed like the only choice at the time—we had to let go of Chase’s Daily and so did you.
Chase’s Daily will reopen this summer with a leap of faith and a pared down outline. You will not be alone in missing the parts of Chase’s Daily you cherished that will not exist anymore. The reason we were able to pursue our vision for so many years was because of the meaning it gave your lives and ours. You have our gratitude.
Last October, we gathered together as a family and decided to close and reassess. At that time, we established three conditions for reopening: to have a small staff, to achieve pay-equity, and to diminish our stress. Profitability will always be the elephant in the room, and capitalism and food make for strange bedfellows. Is there a way to thread this needle? Can we grow, make, and serve food without exploiting ourselves, our workers, our environment? We are willing to give it a go, we hope you will join us in the effort. As Cleo (five and a half) said to me (Meg, his mom) recently when we were discussing whether or not we were going to reopen, “Do you even want to live in a world without pizza?”
