Despite recent reports of Spats’ impending closure, the restaurant’s doors will remain open, owner Andy Mitrelis confirmed to The Herald Monday night.
Though Mitrelis declined to provide specific information about management changes, a female employee at Spats, who declined to provide her name, said the business came under new management about two months ago.
Mitrelis said a switch will occur in the future. “There will be a change of management, that’s it.”
Mitrelis, who owns Spats, has sold the building — which houses the restaurant and upstairs apartments — but the business remains for sale, the employee said.
Asked to confirm or deny this, Mitrelis declined to comment. “We cannot discuss (the) business,” he said.
The employee described Spats’ current management as “chaotic.” Those in charge at Spats have been absent and disorganized, she said, adding that management has neglected to order liquor and restaurant supplies.
Sophia Sepulveda ’15, who created a Facebook event Sept. 8 and tanks with the phrase “We are the Spats generation” to draw community support for Spats, said she heard the news of Spats’ staying open when she called Monday evening to reconfirm its closing.
A member of the waitstaff told her that Spats would be open for an indeterminate amount of time, Sepulveda said.
Over the past few weeks, rumors spread across campus, with many saying that Spats would become a Chinese restaurant. But that speculation was always just “hearsay,” the female employee said. She added that the rumor could have began because of a prospective buyer, whom the employee described as an Asian man.
Various members of the community reacted strongly to the initial news of Spats closing.
“The tank was supposed to garner support from the community, and I think it achieved that,” Sepulveda said.
In addition to widespread interest from students, professors and staff members have emailed Sepulveda requesting shirt orders and inquiring about the shirts’ delivery, she said.
“I did show some of the wait staff the tanks. They knew what was going on, so perhaps the management fully realized that we didn’t want it to close,” Sepulveda said.
Some students around campus expressed delight at the news that Spats would remain open. “My heart ripped out of my chest, because I live three doors down from Spats, so we were all very excited to spend our senior year (there),” said Lily Sykes ’15.
“Spats is a Brown legend,” said Ian Callender ’15. “It deserves to stick around.”
-With additional reporting by Kiki Barnes and Emma Jerzyk