YUMA, Ariz. – After two years in business Carnivores of Yuma closed their doors to the public.
The manager says it’s because they didn’t get enough customers.
“The people loved it. They just didn’t visit us enough times,” Manager Aaron Denison said.
Denison says the restaurant that served all different kinds of meats did well in the past. However, a different story today, he says they had to let go of eight employees.
“It hurts it, it hurts a lot. Most of the employees here love what they do,” Denison said.
While the restaurant is closed for good, he says they are working to open a new restaurant in the next couple of years.
“We’re hoping that catering will take off this year. We’re hoping that we can rebuild the bank account, so we can get another building,” Denison said.
So we wanted to know just how businesses are doing in Yuma. We went to the Yuma County Chamber of Commerce and talked with Executive Director John Courtis to get his perspective.
“Those folks who are really relying on the winter visitors, especially the Canadian dollar. They are struggling it’s been a really tough winter,” Courtis said.
Courtis says that other businesses such as the Yuma Proving Ground or the agriculture industry are doing fine.
“No fault of theirs. The Canadian dollar is worth 63 cents to our dollar. So some folks decided not to come. We understand that,” Courtis said.
We asked if Courtis noticed a lot of businesses closing in Yuma and he said it’s the opposite.
“We have a restaurant like Carnivores (of Yuma) close unfortunately but there are a lot of mitigating factors behind that closure. You got that but you got the Flat Lining Grill opening up. You’ve got restaurants opening up all the time,” Courtis said.