Perkins once the heart of Neenah, for theater students, family reunions and the retired is now closed on Oct. 20 for good.

This specific Perkins was well known for its turkey dinners and late night pie, but most recently the company had less success than customers and staff believed.

“After she was cut, she went into the backroom and was just crying with our managers and no one told us what was going on until later in the day. I was one of the last servers there,” Katy Waters, waitress with one year and four months experience at Perkins, said.

The last day it was open, Waters went to her shift as normal, and it was a busy Sunday morning. As time went on, servers were getting cut from the floor, so they could clean and leave like usual.  Unfortunately, it was not what it looked like. After her shift, she went to get Starbucks and as a result she came back to her managers and no job. She was told sales were too low, but Waters questions the numbers.  She has viewed the  sales reports, and they were always up. 

Firstly, it all started Aug. 5 when Perkins and Marie Callender’s LLC filed for bankruptcy. Shortly after that 29 stores across the United States closed. Just by that closing, 1,190 people’s jobs were lost. Because of a decline in sales, they decided to sell the company for parts to Huddle House Inc. who was planning to close all restaurants in October. Employees at the Neenah store were told about the purchase and that they would improve with the new company and management. No signs of closing existed, except the general manager knew prior days with strict orders to not inform anyone. There were no terms disclosed from the Huddle House Inc. about closing and no type of compensation for the employees. 

Therefore, it is estimated that 12,000 stores between the two businesses could close by the end of 2019. Perkins founded in 1958, has 342 restaurants in 32 states and Canada. This also includes 101 company locations and 241 franchised restaurants recorded from USA TODAY. 

In addition, another employee shared different side of the story, Milo Goethel, the number one server throughout the region. “They were going to tell me at 4:00 p.m., but they never called. I got Katy to tell me for sure, but I pretty much knew by then.”

In reality, a majority of employees did not work that da; thus they  did not get a call about closing. Some employees even found out through social media. Goethel’s shift was similar to Waters’s busy, confusing and filled with sadness, saying goodbye to coworkers. “Even though I miss Perkins, I feel that we all wanted to leave and do better things and this was our push.”

It is observable that this staff communicates woth each other and are a strong group of people. 

Finally, this affects a vast majority of NHS and the Neenah community. The big question everyone wants to know is, where will theater students go to eat now that Perkins is gone?

Katya Schumaker, a senior and theater participate, has been going to Perkins with the 40 to 50 other theater students for the past 4 years. “After every show it’s a tradition for a big group of us to go to Perkins, get pancakes and celebrate the end of a show.”

With no local Perkins, Schumaker says with all the underclass students the long drive to the other Perkins might not be as realistic.  She speculates that Applebees will be the new stop.

Clearly, Perkins was an important part of Neenah — for the men’s prayer group that came in every month, the theater kids, the knitting club that came once a week, the football team, the regulars that did not have somewhere to eat on the holidays and especially for the staff.

Perkins was a home away from home in Neenah and even though it does not exist anymore, patrons have the truth and hope for a future without Perkins in Neenah.