ASHLAND, Ore.- Some Ashland restaurants are seeing a 20% drop in business.
That’s according to Clarinda Merripen, the Owner of Ashland’s Black Sheep restaurant.
She spoke during public comment at the Ashland City Council’s Business Meeting on Tuesday, in which she says she spoke with individual owners throughout the downtown area who are also seeing less patronage.
She says many factors including an increase in expenses and a decrease in population are not helping the restaurant business survive in Ashland.
“Come on a Monday, come on a Tuesday, come on a Friday night at 11:00 and it’s much deader than it’s been in the past. You’ll see this in evidence by so many restaurants being sold and bought,” Merripen said.
Merripen’s two requests for the council was to make a permitting system and to make changes to the city’s food and beverage tax.
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