Citing labor issues, costs, Bishop's closes Saltillo store
Aug. 9—SALTILLO — Bishop's BBQ Grill in Saltillo, the original location of the small, local chain, has closed.
A note taped to the front door of the eatery informs customers the location has been permanently shuttered.
"Due to the current economic conditions in this country and the inability to find quality help to staff all our locations we have no alternative than to close the Saltillo's Bishop's," the sign reads.
The closing follows the shuttering of the Ripley Bishop's on July 24.
"It's awful to close any business when it could have been avoided," owner Ronnie Bishop said.
Rising food costs have hit the industry hard, and Bishop said those costs, coupled with the labor issues, left it "little or no profit."
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the closure of tens of thousands of restaurants nationwide, industry figures show. According to the National Restaurant Association, since the onset of the pandemic shutdowns in March 2020, the restaurant industry has lost $290 billion in sales, 90,000 restaurants have closed permanently or long-term, and more than 1.5 million jobs have not been recovered.
And even as the economy improves, the path to recovery for restaurants remains uncertain, the NRA said. Consumer spending in restaurants in April was still $1.4 billion below pre-pandemic levels.
Bishop said closing the Saltillo location will allow him to staff his other locations in Tupelo, Mooreville and Booneville.
"We were so short-handed that we were killing our loyal teammates with all the overtime," Bishop said. "High food cost makes it that much tougher. So we're trying to place all of our loyal teammates in other locations where they are much needed. Finding jobs is not difficult at all if anyone wants to work. Finding folks that want to work for a paycheck is a huge issue for sure."
The restauranteur said he appreciated the loyalty and support of his customers over the years.
Bishop opened the Saltillo store in 2008, the first of several locations of the popular barbecue chain. The McCullough Boulevard store in Belden opened in 2011, Booneville was opened in 2013 and West Main Street in Tupelo a year later. The Ripley store opened in 2018, and the Mooreville store opened in 2019.
