Help Relocate Eatopian Eats Due to Forced Closure

Hi I'm Chekesha also known as Chef Girl R CHI, founder of Eatopian Eats, a plant based global fusion brand located in Washington, DC. The focus of my concept is using food as medicine and serve as a retail and marketplace to offering a variety of flavor to those who want to add more vegetables to their diet through global cuisine. Our slogan is "Eat The Globe." We offer meals, meal prep services, food products and nutritional education on healthy eating. We also wholesale our meals to other business.

So why am I raising funds under the Emergency section? Last November 2023 while recovering from a traumatic brain injury, I was presented an opportunity to grow the business into my first brick and mortar location located inside of LA Fitness in Rockville, MD. Based on the terms of the deal and reviewing with with a colleague, I decided to move forward and made the publicly made the announcement of the great news of Eatopian Eats Cafe.

On January 15, 2024, I moved into the space and begun the process of designing the space, purchasing equipment, developing the menu & staffing plans, and completing all of the legal and government paperwork to open the cafe. We completed the health inspection on February 22nd with one minor correction that needed to be completed with the follow up inspection on February 27th. With everything cleared I set the soft opening for March 4th and began shopping for food inventory.

Here's where everything went left: On the afternoon of February 29th, I received a call from LA Fitness' corporate office telling me that as April 1st, they were permanently closing the gym. As you can imagine, I was in complete shock because of all the energy and time I spent working to open this new business. From the time i moved in to the time of being told of the closure was only 45 DAYS into a two year lease. I had financial expenditures of over $60K in bringing the cafe to life through my own savings, family gifts, credit cards and business credit and a $10K grant I received from the Greater Washington Urban League's Black Restaurant Accelerator Program.

After sleeping on the information, I woke up on March 1st makeing calls to all of the vendors and accounts I just opened in an effort to mitigate my finanical exposure. However, due to being notified after 30 days, I was unable to return anything that I purchased or cancel any contracts without severe financial penalties. For example, I needed internet for the POS system and having to cancel the service after 31 days has resulted in a $1400 early termination fee.

I presented LA Fitness with a list of damages and they have come to the decision to not make me financially whole. The Rockville location was a corporately owned location so there is no way that they did not know the financial health of that location. They entered the deal with me in bad faith and all of this could have been avoided and I could have gotten most of my money back had they notified within 30 days. So now I have equipment I can't use because I don't have a new space and I have new financial obligations due to the forced closure.

The good news: My business didn't fail, I just ended up in a horrible lease situation. Through quietly sharing my story, I have found a potential home Washington, DC in an area that needs of fresh and healthy food options for the community. The developer is very supportive of my concept and what it will bring to the community. While the space is small, it needs to be built out.

How you can help: By donating here! Initially when opening the cafe in Rockville, I went to my banks to apply for a loan and despite being a customer for 10 years in business banking, I was declined due to the volatility of the restaurant industry. Banks are not lending money for new restaurant concepts when there are thousands of established restaurants closing. I am applying for grants and other funding opportunities but that takes time and the bills from the restaurant closing come every month.

How will funds be used: All funds will be used to cover the expenses incurred in disruption and relocation into a new home for Eatopian Eats. Including but not limited to: new permits, buildout & construction costs, storage of equipment, etc.

Thank you in advance for your compassion, empathy and support of me and my dream. I know times are tight and I always say anything more than $0 helps. Follow me on IG @chefgirlrchi to follow my journey to share my plant based food with the world.