07/28/2022
To add some context to yesterday's apology and address the requests for more information as to what happened:
The business relationship with Erica was based on a two part agreement involving a lease with the property landlord for the space where her cart resides and a verbal agreement to use Lottie & Zula's space for storage, refrigeration and as a commissary kitchen with Lottie & Zula’s subsidizing water, electricity, garbage and other utilities at no additional cost to Erica’s lease with the landlord.
In January, before Erica was able to move her cart into the space, Lottie & Zula's was hit with a positive Covid case and forced to close for a short time. Being a new business, still not profitable, changes had to be made to hours and staff schedules to keep the staff safe while retaining their hours as well as operate the restaurant towards a break even. Opening 7 days a week was the best option and given the size of the restaurant with a seperate prep kitchen, the assumption that Erica would be able to continue to use the facilities.
Over the next few months, the arrangement appeared to be working for all parties, as interactions were positive and collaborations were mutually agreeable.
In May, we collaborated again on a meatloaf sandwich. A financial agreement was not formalized first, and it was different from previous collabs in that we were not donating proceeds to charity. An uncomfortable conversation ensued about compensation after the fact, followed by a text thread which began as a $74 offer to Erica for meatloaf. Erica replied that’s what she came up with and payment was sent to her through Venmo. She later responded that $74 was not adequate as it covered only the cost to make the meatloaf. An additional $26 was Venmoed with a request to talk in person to ensure the final compensation was agreeable. That request was declined.
Over the next couple of days and into weeks, amid a now tense atmosphere, more attempts were made to initiate a conversation to resolve the tension and misunderstanding with regards to the collaboration. Erica expressed that she was busy, did not want to talk about it at that time, and she needed space.
cont. below
