BYU NewsNet - Entrepreneurs face economic struggles

When banks fail and big business goes bankrupt, the government can come to the rescue with billions of dollars in bailout money—but Pennyroyal Café relies more on grassroots efforts to survive.

When the late-night hipster hangout, which serves soup and sandwiches until 2 a.m., opened in November, owner Nathan Robbins said they were met with enthusiasm by local college students who were tired of Provo shutting down at 10 p.m.

“From the very beginning, the community has been overwhelmingly supportive,” said Robbins, a BYU film student. “Everyone’s just like, ‘A place that’s open late! People will be here every night!’”

Provo City Building Inspection has been less enthusiastic about the café, however, and Robbins said an inspector shut them down last month, the day before a big event.

February was a slow month for sales, and in order to pay the bills they planned to host an Electric Dance Party at Pennyroyal, Robbins said.

However, the day before the dance party, a building inspector showed up and told them they would have to close until they fixed several building violations.

Robbins speculated that Provo City chose to enforce the regulations that day because they had misconceptions about the Electric Dance Party and wanted to shut it down.

But Dan Stubbs, Provo building commissioner, said the city was not discriminating against Pennyroyal because of the event, insisting it was “strictly a safety issue.”

The changes were made and Pennyroyal opened the next day, but the building inspector said they would have to enforce an occupancy limit of 49, reduced from the 300-person limit Robbins said the inspectors had previously implied.

The incident highlights an issue many young entrepreneurs face as they try to open businesses in one of the most conservative cities in the country.

Robbins said the city’s suspicion of events like dance parties makes it difficult to open an establishment that caters to the college crowd.

“Provo has always been anti-dance,” Robbins said.

“There are so many regulations and standards to meet that it makes it almost impossible for a dance club to survive in Provo.”

Still, Robbins said college students have rallied behind the café. Local bands have donated proceeds from their concerts to the struggling restaurant, and when Pennyroyal hosted a special event designed to make the community aware of their challenges, they made four times the money they do on a normal day.

But Robbins said he isn’t getting rich from his little venture.

“In the past 4 months, I’ve made 500 bucks,” Robbins said. “I’m living off student loans; this is totally a labor of love.”