Black Buggy financial problems precipitate new ownership and name change in Jasper store
The Jasper Black Buggy restaurant announced today that it is no longer affiliated with the Washington, IN based business. This comes as concerns about the future of the string of restaurants and furniture stores based on LaVerne Graber’s financial problems are surfacing. Earlier this week the flagship store in Washington was placed in foreclosure and 40 employees were left jobless.
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Matt Graber and Mark Shartzer had assumed the lease on the Washington and the Jasper restaurants in early June but were unaware of the extent of financial problems associated with LaVerne.
As the situation unfolded, the two sought legal counsel and were advised to rebrand the Jasper location as “Mike and Matt’s; A Simple Amish Dining Tradition”. Today the two announced the Jasper restaurant’s name change.
“We weren’t aware of all of this when we got involved,” Shartzer explained concerning the Washington store closing. “We want to thank the people here in Jasper for their support; that is why we separated.”
Matt Graber, co-owner of Mike and Matt’s, has been involved with the restaurant for a large part of his life, starting working with his father in a bakery in 1992. He brings with him his mother, Maggie Graber’s, recipes that were used in the original restaurant and will be featured at the Jasper restaurant.
Despite the unfortunate situation with the area staple, the two plan on growing their business from its new Jasper base.
“Matt is here every day, he was here at 4 a.m. this morning,” Shartzer explained. “He is in charge of the food we will be serving and Maggie is our approval process.”
The two plan on continuing the service the business is known for while improving the dining selection at the Jasper store. “We have a lot of plans but right now we just want to improve our base right here in this community.”
Mike and Matt’s will still offer catering and the traditional Amish recipes for the candies and desserts. Shartzer stated he and Matt want to expand the business into merchandise as well as the restaurant, but reiterated they just need to really concentrate on making this restaurant great here in Jasper.
The restaurant is located at 1203 Third Avenue in Jasper.
Having been there on Friday night, the new recipes are not in place. That is the one thing the restaurant needs right now. The food they have there needs a refreshing and then they need to advertise that has been done. I hope this helps them.