with heavy hearts,
What a ride it has been. To say that we are proud of what we have been able to accomplish with this project is an understatement. The food business is brutal, heartbreaking, and uphill on the best days.
For those of you that don’t know or don’t remember, Edith’s Pie started out of Mike’s driveway a month into the Covid lockdown in 2020. It started as a way to bring a little normalcy in an uncertain moment. To provide something that neighbors could share safely. To bring the community together. Get a sense of something familiar passed through the cracked window of a car.
As we grew we set out with a handful of North stars. We were not going to sacrifice the quality of ingredients. We were going to provide good, kind, and compassionate jobs as best we could. We were going to stand in our ethics, our beliefs, and our community. And we were going to make some damn good pie. To say we have accomplished our goals would be an understatement, in our eyes.
Over the past 5 and a half years we have pivoted, opened new avenues, tried new things, and jumped through every hoop we have been able to find. Over, and over, and over, and over again.This moment, like the moment we started, feels similarly uncertain, and equally destabilizing. We are being bombarded with chaotic and impulsive changes that impact each and every one of us. The goal is to overwhelm. And we are officially overwhelmed.
Mea culpa, we make a niche product that is also a luxury good. We’re slinging pie while Rome burns.
Since this time last year, there has been a catastrophic downward trend in business. We are down at minimum 31%, with many days now averaging 20 people. While I wish this was a problem we could say “hey come in and buy pie!” could fix, it just isn’t at this point. We created a lot of fans along the way, but lately - not enough customers. This statement could be copied and pasted for so many businesses and establishments that have closed in Oakland over the last two years.
Here’s the reality. Lots of places have closed. Lots more will. Things are bleak. We could throw blame at tariffs. We could blame the economy. We could blame the city. There are so many things we could say. But really…. It doesn’t matter. We tried. We tried really really really fucking hard. We’ve given just about everything we have to this business. We are being crushed under the weight of insurmountable debts after a year of losses and “next week will be betters”. A long time guest recently came by and said “please say something before it’s too late!” after asking how business was for us when our reply was “we’re pushing along”. The tragic thing about this business is it’s really not possible to know before it’s too late. When margins are razor thin, it really is just one bad week.
We are feeling loss and heartbreak, but we are not feeling failure. We did the damn thing the best we could. If we make it there, this will be our last holiday season. In the meantime we are starting a GoFundMe to try to aid in repaying vendors, and operational debts, and making sure our staff get paid while we push through to the finish line wherever it may be.
What does it all mean? The doors aren’t closed yet. We have every intention of being here through Thanksgiving. If you wanna come in, great. We’ll still be making pie until the lights go out. If you wanna kick some cash to keep the lights on, that would be amazing. The GoFundMe is linked. It would take a small fortune, but every bit helps us.