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Another chain restaurant, Kura Sushi USA, is giving back small business funds
Source: Washington Post
Another chain restaurant is giving back small business funds
After blowback, Kura Sushi USA chain said it will return $6 million in funding
By Jonathan O'Connell
April 23, 2020 at 8:31 a.m. EDT
The Kura Sushi USA restaurant chain canceled a $5.98 million federal small business loan after outrage from small business advocates and policymakers over national restaurant and hotel companies obtaining millions in funds from the program before it ran dry last week.
In a statement the company posted on its website, the company’s president and chief executive, Jimmy Uba, said that Kura Sushi USA played by the rules set out by lawmakers but had no idea how intense the competition for funding would be.
In a filing Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it was returning the money.
“This was a difficult decision because our employees are extremely important to us, but it’s impossible to ignore the fact that our finances allow us to weather financial hardship for a longer period than independent restaurant owners,” Uba said. “We hope that these funds will be shared equitably among deserving candidates.”
Executives at Shake Shack similarly decided earlier this week to cancel a $10 million loan, saying when it was announced that funding had been exhausted, “businesses across the country were understandably up in arms” and they were thankful to have access to private-sector financing.
-snip-
By most definitions, however, Kura Sushi USA is not a small business. It is worth $88 million and is the U.S. subsidiary of a Japan-based conglomerate that has more than 400 restaurants and 35 years of brand history, according to the company’s public filings.
-snip-
After blowback, Kura Sushi USA chain said it will return $6 million in funding
By Jonathan O'Connell
April 23, 2020 at 8:31 a.m. EDT
The Kura Sushi USA restaurant chain canceled a $5.98 million federal small business loan after outrage from small business advocates and policymakers over national restaurant and hotel companies obtaining millions in funds from the program before it ran dry last week.
In a statement the company posted on its website, the company’s president and chief executive, Jimmy Uba, said that Kura Sushi USA played by the rules set out by lawmakers but had no idea how intense the competition for funding would be.
In a filing Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it was returning the money.
“This was a difficult decision because our employees are extremely important to us, but it’s impossible to ignore the fact that our finances allow us to weather financial hardship for a longer period than independent restaurant owners,” Uba said. “We hope that these funds will be shared equitably among deserving candidates.”
Executives at Shake Shack similarly decided earlier this week to cancel a $10 million loan, saying when it was announced that funding had been exhausted, “businesses across the country were understandably up in arms” and they were thankful to have access to private-sector financing.
-snip-
By most definitions, however, Kura Sushi USA is not a small business. It is worth $88 million and is the U.S. subsidiary of a Japan-based conglomerate that has more than 400 restaurants and 35 years of brand history, according to the company’s public filings.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/23/kura-sushi-sba/