SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In a passionate plea online, a local business owner on Broadway in Sacramento is asking neighbors and community members to come out and support him.
Broadway has been in the news recently after the City of Sacramento filed a lawsuit against seven homeless people who they say are causing a public nuisance.
The owner of New Helvetia Brewing Company, David Gull, says there's been a drastic decline in business in the last few months and believes part of that has to do with the rise in homelessness.
“Broadway is still a gem. Broadway is still a great place to be and do business,” said Gull.
Gull told ABC10 that’s how he felt when he opened his business nearly seven years ago, and that's how he still feels today.
“It's a great place for customers to come out, and neighbors and residents to enjoy some of the best and most diverse food in our region, and have great beer,” Gull added.
The last few months, however, have been a struggle, said Gull. In a Facebook post he wrote to the Land Park community, Gull asked neighbors for help saying business has been painfully slow. He cited inadequate marketing from his part, but also things out of his control such as lack of maintenance from neighboring owners, nearby vacancies, and the most challenging issue: homelessness.
“We're not trying to blame homelessness on the slowdown of our business,” Gull said. “There's lots of reasons for the slow down. Some of them are self-inflicted wounds on our part.”
Gull explained the reason he took to Facebook is to remind his community he's doing everything in his control to keep his business a clean, welcoming, and safe place.
“We do all this activity within the community,” added Gull. “It was just a sort of a, ‘Hey, remember us? Check it out, guys! We're doing great beer, we're part of our community and we hope you'll come and enjoy some New Helvetia and support a local family in your neighborhood.’”
ABC10 reached out to other businesses for this story but has not received a response yet.
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