COLUMBIA, S.C. — Home Team BBQ will be closing it's door indefinitely, and laying off 400 employees, according to owner Aaron Siegel.
Siegel shared in a video that all the locations of the BBQ chain, including one in Columbia's Five Points would be closing until further notice.
The video was posted on Wednesday.
According to the video, management was in the process of calling all hourly employees, and laying them off. According to Siegel, that number is in the neighborhood of 400 employees.
"We believe that is the best thing for our company, and the best thing for our customers in the name of public health to make sure that everyone is staying safe, " Siegel said.
Siegel goes on to say that the decision was hard, but necessary. He also says he is grateful for the support Home Team has received.
Siegel got emotional talking about the decision.
"It's been super hard to balance the benefits for our employees with the idea we need to keep money in the bank account to make sure that when this passes that we have the resources to open our doors back up," he said.
The hope is to get employees back when the climate created by the coronavirus changes.
He ended the video with hope that the chain would be back soon.
This week, SC Governor Henry McMaster ordered restaurants to stop dine-in services and move to a to-go or drive thru model.
Many other businesses in the state are facing the same uncertainty moving forward.
