Hi family, friends, and supporters of Duett’s,
As many of you know, on March 28, 2026, Duett’s Texas Club in Martindale closed its doors for the last time.
Duett’s was never just a business to us. It was where we raised our family, where we poured every ounce of our time, energy, and resources. While closing was one of the hardest decisions we’ve ever made, we are incredibly proud of what we built, the lessons we learned, and the strength it took to walk away when we did.
As we’ve processed everything, we realized we never fully shared our story.
Ryan and I were originally approached to open Duett’s with nothing but a dream and the willingness to work for it. We were promised support and limited financial risk. However, shortly after opening, those agreements changed, and we found ourselves carrying the weight as debtors rather than partners, but we kept going anyways because we loved what we built and the community we built it with.
Day after day, we bootstrapped the business with no financial backing, no safety net, and no credit. And through it all, this community showed up for us in ways we’ll never forget, helping cover bills, stepping in to work, and believing in what we were building together.
When we closed, we couldn't sell anything to help cover the debts, not equipment, not the business, not even the furniture or glassware. We didn’t own any of the assets.
Toward the end, rising costs made it impossible to sustain. In an effort to stay afloat, we took out a Toast loan totaling over $40,000, which was paid back through a percentage of daily sales. By the time we closed, we had worked that balance down to $24,578, as well as making sure we paid all staff up to date, something we were proud of.
Unfortunately, that remaining Toast balance has now fallen on me personally. It is not protected by the LLC and cannot be cleared through business bankruptcy.
On top of that and our most pressing, we have the final sales tax owed of just over $5,000, with penalties and interest continuing to grow daily. The Texas Comptroller has been kind in working with us, however it has come to the point, with a mid July deadline, that we are at risk of our personal income being garnished by the state to cover this remaining Sales Tax owed.
In total, this debt has become overwhelming and is directly impacting our ability to move forward and rebuild. Ryan is working over 40 hours a week, I've been scraping small jobs as i'm home with both kids. We are struggling to be able to cover our basic needs. A state garnish of wages would knock us out.
This is not easy to ask, especially as we've been so fortunate by the support already, but we are humbly reaching out to those who believed in Duett’s, our friends, our family, and our community, for help in closing this final chapter officially.
In the coming months we hope to put on a few "Duett's Takeover" events to help fundraise the remaining Toast Loan Balance ($24,578) but right now the Sales Tax Debts of $5,000 is looming over us, strangling our efforts to make any move.
If Duett’s ever meant something to you, if you shared a memory there, supported us, or simply believe in second chances, we would be deeply grateful for any support toward helping us settle this final debt.
Thank you for being part of our story. Truly. We couldn’t have done any of it without you, and we’re carrying that love with us into whatever comes next.
With gratitude,
Katie, Ryan, Duetta and Earl.