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After a two-week closure forced by a neighboring retail store’s collapse, coffee institution Fido reopened today, returning espresso, chilaquiles, and bagel sandwiches to their rightful place in Hillsboro Village.
Part of the Bongo Java family, the coffee shop housed in a former pet store has been around since 1996, and as much a destination for the locally sourced grub as for its cups of caffeine. It was forced to temporarily close when the walls of neighboring Impeccable Pig collapsed, due to construction on a new restaurant. Fido hung brown paper posters calling out the effect or a new build putting direct competition out of business, albeit temporarily.
Eater spoke with Bernstein about the closure, which he says is symbolic of changing Nashville — “that an out-of-state based chain [Ruby Sunshine, in this case] caused a 22-year-old Hillsboro Village institution to close.”
While, yes, Fido closed for only two weeks, Bernstein continued “The loss isn’t just sales. It’s worse,” adding, “How do you cover the costs of rebuilding business or having lost employees” among other frustrations as a small business owner, including lack of admin to file claims, contact vendors, and coordinate repairs.
Bernstein points out that a growing number of new places opening in Nashville are owned by out-of-state corporations, making it “darn difficult for those who helped create the look, feel, and taste of this city to operate” by driving up rent, and often using unscrupulous methods to hire away staff. He decries the local media’s attention to the new businesses.
He closes by reiterating that Fido is once again, open, serving the people of Hillsboro Village and throughout Nashville, both new and old versions.
“Fido is re-open. And when the out-of-town breakfast and lunch chain opens near us and two other locally-owned breakfast/lunch places, we’ll see how Nashville looks in the future,” says Bernstein.
Fido is open daily, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
