MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Mt. Juliet cafe owner was one day away from closing down her restaurant after a dramatic drop in customers this fall, but a desperate social media post may have saved her business.
Melanie Nelson, owner of Roasted Coconut Cafe, opened her Mt. Juliet location this summer.
The cafe started as a food truck, then a brick and mortar shop in Lebanon.
The new location saw steady business from July through September, but things changed drastically after that.
"July to September was good," Nelson said.
The fall brought empty chairs, shorter lines and far fewer customers overall.
At one point, just 12 people visited the cafe during an entire eight-hour day.
After weeks of hoping business would pick up, Nelson was preparing to get out of her lease and close the Mt. Juliet location.
As a last-ditch effort, she posted about the dire situation on social media last week.
"If I was a customer at a place that I loved, and that place that I love was going to close if I didn't help support it or get to help get the word out, I would want to know. I would want to do anything I could to help," Nelson said.
The post sparked a rush of customers over the past week, giving the restaurant a lifeline.
"My friend and I are both big supporters, so when I saw that, it made me sad, because this has become my favorite place in Mt. Juliet," said Alexis Nevarez, a regular cafe customer.
Nelson addressed the challenges of operating a restaurant during tough economic times when many people may be trying to watch their wallets.
She said profit margins are thin and staffing hours are long for restaurants.
"Everybody has a ceiling on what they're willing to pay for food,” Nelson said. “Sometimes you might make 5% sometimes you might make 30%, it just kind of depends," Nelson said.
While the social media response has helped the restaurant catch up on some bills, Nelson said keeping the doors open long-term isn't guaranteed yet.
"Every restaurant has their slow days, there's no way around that, but consistency most of the time is key," Nelson said.
This story was reported on-air by Robb Coles and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Coles verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at robb.coles@newschannel5.com.
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