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Downtown jazz club closes

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Downtown jazz club The Hepcat has closed after more than a year in operation, the music venue announced on Facebook yesterday.

Reached today, co-founder Dylan Fox said the coronavirus pandemic pushed financial figures lower in a hospitality industry that already has thin margins. He declined to disclose how much the establishment lost because of the pandemic.

“Based on consumer reports, spending in the hospitality sector is down somewhere in the range of 70%,” he said. “Frankly, in an industry that operates at best at a 10% margin … it's just kind of impossible to keep going.”

The Hepcat was able to keep afloat temporarily with a Paycheck Protection Program loan in an undisclosed amount, Fox said, noting the venture stretched out the funds for around 20 weeks before they ran out last month.

Fox and Jimmy Rollins founded the 220 S. Campbell Ave. music venue, restaurant and bar that was inspired by the 1920s era. Rollins previously told Springfield Business Journal that he and Fox invested around $290,000 in startup costs, including renovations of the building owned by Sam Freeman.

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bobh

This was one of our favorite venues prior to COVID-19. I am very sorry that so many of our local, smaller establishments are taking it on the chin.

Thursday, December 3, 2020
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