Last December, a heroic small business owner by the name Lisa Monet, courageously stood up against Governor Walz' illegal and unconstitutional order to shut down. Her bar/restaurant named Alibi Drinkery in Lakeville was a hopping place once doors opened. Patrons packed in to feel normal again. Even the state representative from the area came in for lunch.
Now six months later, Lisa's life is being destroyed by the COVID Cult that would love to see her homeless, living on the streets, begging for forgiveness for her COVID sins. She's been in court battles with the Attorney General, who represents Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm in her mission to make businesses suffer. After the Dept of Health revoked her food license, Lisa has been forced to watch her life's work being murdered by the very government meant to protect her liberties.
Lisa decided to sell Alibi Drinkery so her loyal customer base could still come to the place they love. Throughout her closure, bills continued to be paid and she was in good standing with her landlord. Everything was done right.
Now the new owner is in the process of getting a liquor license, but found a foe that should not exist: the Lakeville City Council. Word got out that Lisa would remain on board as a paid consultant for the new owner (which is common in business sales) and the Council is on the cusp of denying a liquor license in order to deliver a death blow to the Alibi Drinkery and its new owner.
All of this is being done as punishment for Lisa's defiance last December. Outrageous!
Lisa is being vilified in the public square for "putting the public health in danger". But the Dept of Health can't prove that her actions led to greater spread of COVID. In fact, all Lisa did was open her business, she didn't force people to come into her restaurant. The customers made a conscience choice to patron the Alibi despite the Governor's orders. They probably got sick of driving the 30 miles east to Wisconsin where businesses were wide open.
Tonight the Lakeville City Council is meeting to determine if the new owner of the Alibi Drinkery should get a liquor license. Let's hope they do the right thing and stand up for the rights of their citizens.
Council Contact information:
Mayor Doug Anderson
952-985-4410
Council Member John Bermel
612-709-0180
Council Member Luke Hellier
612-237-2551
Council Member Joshua Lee
763-245-3677
Council Member Michelle Volk
952-270-7125
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FacebookSo, the potential owner botched the license application for starters – several red flags were noted by the counsil members. Then there was the issue of the lease – which actually list the previous owners as parties to it?!? Hmmm…
Also, the previous owners are NOT listed as “consultants” as Jake Duesenberg says in this article – but as OPERATORS. And get this: It supposedly includes some kind of “morality clause (?!?),” where the FORMER owners ‘promise to operate within the law.’
What the heck??
So, when pressed on this, the potential owner looked like a deer in the headlights – basically shaking like a leaf – as he stumbled over why the former owners HAD to be on the lease…for a time period of no less than FOUR YEARS?!?
Come on, man!
The more I watched, the more and more convinced I became: This feels less like an attempt to sell and more an attempt by the previous owners to worm their way back into Alibi – putting this poor guy up to applying for a new license and hoping they wouldn’t catch the very likely case that he’d be “owner” in name only – allowing Lisa and her partner to get a “win” and return to Alibi as if nothing happened.
I’d say nice try, but the council appeared to see right through the ruse. As expected, no new license was issued.
If Lisa really wants to leave and sell, then they should do exactly that, FREE AND CLEAR, and go do something else.
In most situations, the buyer wants the seller to remain on board to shorten the learning curve and retain key relationships with suppliers and customers. I’d be interested in knowing whether the buyer really wants that – or if Lisa is making it a condition of the sale.
In this case, I think any previous clientele would go back regardless of whether Lisa is still involved in day to day operations. In fact, I would argue that even MORE people will come if they know it’s under new mangaement.
So, since the learning curve of running a restaruant/bar isn’t really rocket science, I would say the buyer should leave Lisa behind, leave those old practices behind, and start with a clean (pun intended) slate.