Independent restaurants are on the decline as chains grow

This story was originally published by WPLN.

In Nashville, one beloved coffeeshop, Fido, will leave a 5,000-square-foot hole in the bustling Hillsboro Village neighborhood. A giant countdown clock at the front of the shop measures each second until its last day in the summer of 2028.

“It felt good putting that up. As sad as it is, it was sweet,” said Bob Bernstein, founder and owner of Fido.

There are still memories to be made before the clock strikes zero. Fido will serve as a wedding venue this year, and come spring, it will be the birthplace of many dissertations for students from neighboring universities.

Bernstein is part of a generation that has shaped Nashville’s food scene, and he’s worried about who will take his place. Since Fido opened in 1996, many of its neighboring businesses have come and gone, replaced with chains like Crumbl and Altar’d State.

“For somebody to do what I did 30-something years ago would be very difficult today,” Bernstein said.

In the past, Bernstein has signed his lease for 10 years at a time, but Nashville’s skyrocketing rent prices have forced his retirement.

Rising prices are a problem all over the country, according to Technomic, a research and consulting firm for the restaurant industry. When chains move in, the city can lose its individual identity, said Vice President Rich Shank.

“If they all look like you're in Chicago, what's the special reason to go to Nashville versus Chicago or Tampa or wherever? Because the restaurants are the same, and they look the same. They don't have the regional flavors and the personalities behind it to provide that unique culture,” Shank said.

Across the river, East Nashville is also losing some of that culture. A city staple, Margot Café, plans to say goodbye this June, on the 25th anniversary of its first day.

Margot McCormack, the owner of Margot Café, still has a framed menu from that first night.

“It’s sort of an interesting time capsule,” she said. “Look at the prices. Here, you can have pasta for $12. And you can have soup for $3.”

McCormack has already cleared the biggest hurdle in this industry: She owns her building outright. But she still has to contend with rising prices.

“Honestly, it’s about the property taxes. It’s about the credit card fees. It’s the insurance going up 12%. So, by the time you get down to the bottom line, there’s less and less there all the time,” she said.

For a business model that already has such thin margins, Shank said, most new restaurants won’t last as long as McCormack’s or Bernstein’s.