Suzanne and Roger Perry listed this 25-year-old bottle of Old Rip Van Winkle bourbon for $20,000. A local veteran bought it for double the asking price to help support their restaurants. Want more inspiring, positive news? Sign up for The Good Stuff , a newsletter for the good in life. It will brighten your inbox every Saturday morning. (CNN)Like many in the restaurant industry, Suzanne and Roger Perry saw their business — Datz Restaurant Group in Tampa, Florida — take a huge hit because of the coronavirus pandemic . Across the US, states have ordered the closure of bars and restaurants to help curb the spread of the virus. Some restaurants have completely shut down, others have transitioned to pick-up or delivery only, and a handful have resorted to creative options — including selling groceries or including toilet paper in their food orders — to keep their businesses afloat. As a result of such restrictions on the restaurant industry, Datz Restaurant Group went from close to 400 employees to just 27, and the Perrys said they were running out of money to keep even their skeleton staff paid. “(Our employees are) family now,” Suzanne Perry told CNN. “We’ve watched their children grow up and they’ve done absolutely nothing wrong, but we can’t protect them. There’s absolutely nothing we can do. We can’t pay people when we have no revenue.” So as a last resort, the couple decided to sell the most valuable item in the restaurant’s inventory: A 25-year-old bottle of Old Rip Van Winkle bourbon. ‘All of us lost our jobs:’ Food lines, tears and despair as layoffs mount “I Googled it to see what the prices were online and I saw anywhere from $17,000 to $26,000 online,” Suzanne Perry said. “So I listed it for $20,000, and […]
