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Claims TV show didn't exactly kill eatery, but end result was still a nightmare
Before Chris Posner dropped off the keys to his recently shuttered restau- rant, he put on a hat and sunglasses. He didn't want to be recognized as he went to the building that housed his former business, Hannah and Mason's restaurant in Cranbury, N.J.
"I was embarrassed," he said.
Posner, 39, and his busi- ness had been featured on prime-time Fox television's "Kitchen Nightmares" in 2008. He said he believes that the show didn't neces- sarily hurt business, but it didn't help either. The show's star, chef Gordon Ramsay, temporarily shut the restaurant down during the episode. In real life, the closure occurred on one of the busiest nights of the year - Valentine's Day.
"With or without the show, I think we would have closed," Posner said. "I was holding out because I was waiting for the airing. We expected a whole lot more" business to result from the televised event, he noted. "If we got a dozen new faces in the door from the show, it was a lot."
Without an increase in traffic and after months of slipping sales, Posner finally heeded the advice from his accountant and lawyer and shut the restaurant to halt the downward spiral. His wife started working full-time and Posner took over caring for their three young children.
Ultimately, the closure stemmed from a combination of factors, he explained.
"If the economy had been strong, I don't think the show would have affected us in the least," he said. "I don't think it was a direct correlation."
In fact, Posner said that when he first...