Wow, has it been busy lately. I hope to get back to the blog more often, but I felt compelled to confront the rumors of Divine Dining Group troubles, store closings, and bankruptcy.
Rumors have been going around for weeks that Divine Dining Group was filing bankruptcy and closing stores. At first, I ignored it and thought it would go away. Well, it seems like rumors of bad news are fun to share, because I continue to hear it on a daily basis.
The first week in October, Divine Dining Group laid off a group of managers. This was a difficult and unpleasant decision, but was a response to the business climate here. Layoffs continue in the Grand Strand, my wife was laid off, I have a friend who was laid off from Brandon Advertising, the Sun News had laid people off, car dealerships, restaurants, lawyers offices, oil change places, everyone is laying off. This is because no one is spending money, no money equals less employees.
DDG also decided to close Latitude 22 for the winter. We have discussed it for the past three years (I have always been in favor of closing for the winter), and this year they decided to close. It will reopen in March.
DDG is running a tight ship, I can tell you that. That is what any company would do right now, specifically to make ends meet and be around when the economy rebounds.
I think what bothers me most is that the rumors can have a negative impact on business, I believe that they have had a substantial negative impact actually. This means customers not coming in, staff not getting tips, cooks not getting hours, etc. When someone repeats this untrue rumor, they hurt the employees and their families. Right now we need to support our friends, neighbors, businesses, and their families. Please, go out to eat shop locally, get your oil changed, and help our community weather these tough times. If not, it will get worse for all of us.
I found one post that ranted about Jack Divine, Jr.. If someone has an ax to grind with Jack, take it out on him, not the restaurants and all of the individuals and families that rely on them for their livelihood.
So, no, we are not bankrupt, we are not closing stores, we are not only open some of the time. Roy and Sid’s is open for business for lunch and dinner seven days a week, Divine Prime is open for business six nights a week (closed Sunday),
