Portland Restaurant Rocket Closes – Transparent Post From Owner Explains What Happened
October 27th, 2008 by Dave Allen
This must be one of the better exit letters I have read. Completely transparent and open without any finger-pointing or playing of the blame game. Everyone in business today should take note of how gracious being radically transparent can actually be. Leather Storrs took the high road and should take a bow. Many people in business and politics today can learn a lot from this simple statement.
[Found on PortlandFoodandDrink.com]
“Rocket will close Saturday, November 8th. Economic pressure and critical dissatisfaction combine to make continuing on our current course impossible. We are, however, resolved to keep our beautiful space and our magical garden for as long as we can. To that end, we intend to become a private venue. We hope that you will consider Rocket for your functions: holiday parties, birthdays, receptions, hip-hop throw downs, pinochle tournaments and any other events you can imagine. We will also sponsor several events of our own: wine dinners, thematic menus and roof produce driven dinners. Despite the current national vogue of finger pointing, I’m afraid the responsibility for our failure lies squarely with me. In an attempt to wow and titillate I forgot the fundamentals of a pleasant dining experience: thoughtful, delicious food served expertly. In a fever for molecular gastronomy and cute, clever combinations, I alienated customers and critics. Bring on the humble pie.
This is not a tragedy. Employees will be paid, debts will be honored and there will be no absconding with cash. There are no investors left holding an empty bag. The ripples of our closure are contained.
We would like to extend an invitation to you to join us one last time in the coming weeks. We will host a tequila dinner on November 5th . That will be fun. Other than that we will continue our dinner service, Tuesday through Saturday, from five until whenever. There is still plenty of produce to pick and liquor to drink. We’d love to see you in Rocket and we hope you’ll keep us in mind in the future. Please forward this message to anyone who might find it helpful and remember to subscribe to our newsletter.
Sincerely,
Leather Storrs”
Tags: Leather Storrs, Nemo, Portland, Rocket
October 27th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Wow, this guy is a class act. I went to Rocket once and loved it. The service was fantastic.
October 28th, 2008 at 8:02 am
Sad to see someone’s dream not work out because of flaws, but motivating to see him take responsibility. This letter makes me curious to go down and check it out. Also, interesting afterlife idea, using the space for different functions.
October 30th, 2008 at 6:55 am
[...] you’re going out of business, it’s best to take the high road and write an explanation like this guy did. (Sidenote: I loved Rocket! Photographic [...]
October 30th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
If I lived in the area and had never been to rocket this would certainly make me want to go and check it out. It makes him sound like a nice person in general, someone I would be happy to give my money to!