Help with expanding Betsy's Crepes
Donation protected
Hi, I am Betsy.
I own Betsy's Crepes in Southern Pines, NC.
I started my restaurant 7 years ago having never made a crepe before . I was desperate for a job!!! I picked crepes because no one in this area served them & I actually thought it would be easy.
After, refinancing my house & putting everything i had into the business, I opened, inside of a coffee shop.
I started very small serving no drinks & having only one other person to help. My son & I ate crepes for the first year & did without heat in the house to make it succeed.
I quickly out grew my small space.
So, I rented a larger space across the street.
We are now a staff of 20 employees, & once again we have outgrown our space.
Last September I got the opportunity to lease the space that joins the one we are in now.
I knew it would be up to the fire marshall to let me expand. I expained to him what I was needing to do. He told me to hire an architect & come up with a fire exit plan. This sounded simple enough! I then signed a five year lease. The architect came up with the fire exit plan. He submitted the plan to the fire marshall who then came up with about $100k more things he now required. Most of which were to destroy the beauty of this historic building. Another thing he decided to make us do is install a hood, when we never were required or asked to have one before.
The first architect did not know how to help so he threw the towel in after four months.
Our new architect I believe has found a solution after 8 months of rent $24k on a space we are not even allowed to use. Plus, all the money spent on extra equiptment & furniture that was bought before finding out what the fire marshall left out.
I almost gave up! I am here almost 7 days a week giving it my all! I am grateful to have my job here, & I am grateful to all my staff who make this place a come to restaurant for this area & for all of the customers that drive here from far away, for all the people that stand outside waiting to get inside to eat, (at times for up to an hour, in the freezing cold, the rain & in the hot hot summer) to meet their friends & family & strangers because they sit at each others tables for lack of space.
I am determined to make these two spaces become one for the community who has supported us & for all of Betsy's Crepes staff that has become like a family to each other & myself.
I am grateful & humble to everyone that has supported Betsy's Crepes to have gotten us where we are now!To be able to get this finished Betsy's Crepes is going to need as much help as we can . Thank You!!
I own Betsy's Crepes in Southern Pines, NC.
I started my restaurant 7 years ago having never made a crepe before . I was desperate for a job!!! I picked crepes because no one in this area served them & I actually thought it would be easy.
After, refinancing my house & putting everything i had into the business, I opened, inside of a coffee shop.
I started very small serving no drinks & having only one other person to help. My son & I ate crepes for the first year & did without heat in the house to make it succeed.
I quickly out grew my small space.
So, I rented a larger space across the street.
We are now a staff of 20 employees, & once again we have outgrown our space.
Last September I got the opportunity to lease the space that joins the one we are in now.
I knew it would be up to the fire marshall to let me expand. I expained to him what I was needing to do. He told me to hire an architect & come up with a fire exit plan. This sounded simple enough! I then signed a five year lease. The architect came up with the fire exit plan. He submitted the plan to the fire marshall who then came up with about $100k more things he now required. Most of which were to destroy the beauty of this historic building. Another thing he decided to make us do is install a hood, when we never were required or asked to have one before.
The first architect did not know how to help so he threw the towel in after four months.
Our new architect I believe has found a solution after 8 months of rent $24k on a space we are not even allowed to use. Plus, all the money spent on extra equiptment & furniture that was bought before finding out what the fire marshall left out.
I almost gave up! I am here almost 7 days a week giving it my all! I am grateful to have my job here, & I am grateful to all my staff who make this place a come to restaurant for this area & for all of the customers that drive here from far away, for all the people that stand outside waiting to get inside to eat, (at times for up to an hour, in the freezing cold, the rain & in the hot hot summer) to meet their friends & family & strangers because they sit at each others tables for lack of space.
I am determined to make these two spaces become one for the community who has supported us & for all of Betsy's Crepes staff that has become like a family to each other & myself.
I am grateful & humble to everyone that has supported Betsy's Crepes to have gotten us where we are now!To be able to get this finished Betsy's Crepes is going to need as much help as we can . Thank You!!
Organizer
Betsy Markey
Organizer
Southern Pines, NC