Speaking through early-afternoon tears and a stiff upper-lip, Eden general manager and co-owner, Daniel Schulz reiterated what he said was his primary concern regarding tomorrow’s sudden closure of the popular nightclub on University Avenue.
“We employ 50 people,” Schulz told San Diego LGBT Weekly as news of Eden’s closure broke Wednesday. “We were trying to make it work on our end, but we were having disagreements with our landlord that couldn’t be overcome in the end. Now, I’m just really concerned about our Eden family – I mean our employees.”
Citing what he sees as the counterproductive nature and pain of employment uncertainty, Schulz said Eden’s owners made the choice to close now, rather than dragging out what is sure to be a difficult phase in the lives of the bar and dance club’s employees for weeks.
“There’s nothing worse than coming to work each day, not knowing if it will be your last day or not,” he said. “I want them to have every opportunity to land on their feet.”
For his part, Schulz expects to do likewise – in the long run.
“I have put everything I have into this venture,” he said. “I don’t just mean money; but my passion, hard work. I’ve put my whole being into this project and so have others. It is sad; I am sad.”
Sadness notwithstanding, Schulz plans to make Eden’s last dance a happy one.
“It’s a celebration. We’re opening at 9 p.m. Nothing will be more than five dollars. We plan to make it a special night.”
Schulz was hesitant to place blame for the breakdown in negotiations with Eden’s landlord, but indicated that the issue separating the two parties from reaching an agreement started out as an economic one, but ultimately grew to cover multiple issues.
“I don’t think she’s a member of our (LGBT) community,” he said when asked if he thought the problem had anything to do with the LGBT demographic to which Eden caters. “But I have no doubt that she is an ally. There’s no problem in that regard.”
Read more detail about what really happened to cause Eden to close its doors once and for all at LGBTweekly.com
Sorry but I don’t buy this, snif, snif crap.
They stayed open for PRIDE business. The Owners have those PRIDE receipts and also all tips charged to credit cards.
The Owners did not tell employees they were going to be unemployed in 3 days.
Their “disagreement” with the owner of the property was the business Owner’s non-payment of rent under the terns of their lease.
The place has been grossly mismanaged from the begining. Velvet Ropes, Bottle Service and high Cover Charges in Hillcrest? The same things that caused Universal in the same location to fail. These clowns had no learning curve.
The “Restaurant” never had a name, and never had a chef.
Hope the employees are OK, but the owners deserved what that gave to themselves–a total business FAILURE. They have no one to blame for this but themselves.
They will drive off in the Bentley always parked in front. Hope they don’t drive off with the employees’ PRIDE tip money.