By Nolan Strong and Chris Richburg
Hip-Hop mogul Jermaine Dupri recently closed his Café Dupri, an eatery that he recently opened in the Buckhead section of Atlanta.
According to Dupri, who opened the health conscious café in 2005, the ailing United States economy prevented the business venture from taking off the ground.
“The economy has changed dramatically and people just aren’t eating out as much anymore,” Dupri told AllHipHop.com. “People are cutting back everywhere and a lot of companies, including Café Dupri, are feeling the affect. For the past two months business at the Café has been down and if the business isn’t making money, I feel its a smart move to shut it down. Bottom line: if it doesn't make money, it doesn't make sense.”
Employees of the café recently spoke to WSB-TV about the closing as well, airing their frustrations with Dupri due to allegations of nonpayment for the work.
Last week, workers arrived at the Buckhead-based eatery to find a sign on the door that read "thanks for patronizing Café Dupri. We have closed indefinitely."
According to the workers, Dupri’s mother, Cecelia Mauldin, served as CEO of Café Dupri.
She issued notices several times to employees stating that payroll funds were not available.
A notice dated Aug. 11 instructed the workers to go to "a Sun Trust bank and cash your check. The cash flow will not be in the bank until Tuesday after 12. Sorry for the inconvenience."
Workers told WSB-TV that paychecks from Café Dupri have bounced for weeks and have been refused at local check cashing businesses.
When asked about the dilemma, Mauldin also said that all the workers had been paid and that it was a business decision to shut down Café Dupri.