CLEVELAND — A simple sign could’ve saved Re:Bar Cleveland, a local bar near East 9th Street and Prospect Avenue in Downtown Cleveland, from closing its doors.
“When you’re in a location like this, visibility is huge,” said Rachel Ulloa, the bar’s owner.
Now, Ulloa said she must face a tough reality.
“We are not even in a position where we’re allowed to make those improvements,” said Ulloa.
“I can’t keep sacrificing my own funds and fighting for things I shouldn’t be responsible for.”
Shortly after Ulloa said she spent around $200,000 remodeling the inside, she said she wanted to put a sign up on the outside to attract downtown customers, especially during the winter months.
But then, she said she learned she couldn’t do it because it was in violation due to needed repairs on the building’s storefront.
“There’s nothing to attract people to the inside form the outside,” said Ulloa.
Ulloa told News 5 she reached out to her landlord multiple times for help.
“They had promised me that they were going to get these repaired. That they were going to do a whole storefront renovation, but over a year and a half passed and nothing was ever done,” said Ulloa.
We reached out to Knight Center Corporation, the building’s landlord, and have yet to get a response back.
However, Ulloa forwarded an email to News 5 from July 2022, where it appears an alleged meeting took place between multiple people, including Ulloa and her landlord’s organization, to discuss what action steps were needed to be done for Ulloa to have a sign.
To this day, Ulloa said she’s been left in the dark.
“They told us at this point they have no intention on fixing the outside of the building or making any type of negotiations per the lease agreement to subsidize our rent or lower our rent due to the fact that we don’t have signage and it is affecting our business,” said Ulloa.
News 5 stood near the corner of East 9th Street and Prospect Avenue to ask visitors if they knew about Re:Bar Cleveland.
“No, no this place doesn’t look like there’s any type of businesses over here,” said Hanah Yousef.
When I told Yousef where the bar was, she asked what it’s called and if it just opened. I then told her the bar had been open for seven years, and she asked where the sign was.
“We hear time and time again: we didn’t even know you were here,” said Ulloa.
As Ulloa works to pack what’s left of Re: Bar, John Barker, President and CEO of the Ohio Restaurant and Hospitality Alliance, reminds local owners why signage is critical for a business’s success.
“That sign can make all the difference in the world can make all the difference in the world, so we in the restaurant business, we fight like heck to have really good signage outside in branding on that restaurant so that people know what we are,” said Barker.
Ulloa wants to see more laws in place to hold landlords accountable for maintaining their buildings.
