Stacey & Rick's Soul Food on the brink of closing doors for good

INDIANAPOLIS — Stacey and Rick's Soul Food has been on the corner of 34th and Sherman Dr. for 20 years but the owner said he's on the brink of closing his doors for good because of inflation.

"Oh man, it's tearing us apart. my business is bleeding to death because of that," said Fowler.

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Rick Fowler dreamed of opening his own business.

"I always wanted to work for myself and I enjoyed cooking," he said.

Two decades later, he said Stacey and Rick's Soul Food has been a success story and not only for him but his community.

"I'd be sad to see it close," said Marcell Berrell.

Marcell Berrell said the local spot offers more than comfort food to his family.

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"They have good ribs and if I ever wanna get something good to eat I can come right here because there aren't too many soul food restaurants around here," Berrell said.

Fowler said he never fully bounced back from the loans and interest rates that followed the pandemic and then there is the rising cost of food.

"Everything is probably about 60%-70% more expensive as far as buying containers, meats, vegetables. Everything has gone up," he said.

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IU Hospitality and Tourism Professor Mark Meng said Stacey and Rick's Soul Food isn't the only mom-and-pop restaurant still suffering.

"This inflation situation is not just having the impact on one specific city, region. We're talking about the greater Indy area. That's true for the entire Indiana state. That's true for the entire U.S. economy," said Prof. Meng.

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Meng cites studies that say COVID mixed with inflation has closed more than 100,000 restaurants.

"Majority of them were caused by the COVID-19 restriction, and that number includes both temporarily closing as well as permanently closing," said Prof. Meng. "So, when we have a food cost increase well over 25% over the past three to four years, close to 30% increase on the labor and again over the last three to four years that significantly hurt the restaurants."

"All these loans from these second lenders and I'm overwhelmed in debt now because they never consolidated and I'm paying out more on my lenders than what actually needs to go into my store," said Fowler.

"One particular challenge was come to the small business like the restaurant, they will have difficulty to secure the funds, aka taking a loan, because they don't have this massive asset, comparing with some other big name companies, such as these tech companies, for example. So they're going to be scrutinized twice, three times more, comparing with some other companies who come with a long history," said Prof. Meng.

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Closing his doors is the last thing Fowler wants to do. He hopes someone steps in to help.

"What are my options? Who can I turn to? I'm a taxpayer," said Fowler.

You can find Stacey and Rick's Soul Food at the intersection of 34th and Sherman Dr. They're open Tuesday through Sunday.