WeWork’s collapse hits restaurants

The restaurant industry is not immune to the woes of WeWork or the We Company, as it has been rebranded. The troubled shared workspace company, which recently abandoned plans for an IPO, has been shuttering various startups it has acquired. Spacious is the latest. The startup helps high-end restaurants operate as co-working spaces during the day when most restaurants would otherwise be slow or closed. 

Spacious works with restaurants in New York and San Francisco and offers an additional revenue stream in a tight margin business. It will close at the end of the year. 

“As part of WeWork’s renewed focus on its core workspace business, Spacious will close its doors on December 31, 2019. We regret any disruption that this may cause to you or your business,” an email sent to Spacious customers on Thursday read. The company was acquired by WeWork in August. 

In an interview in July with Restaurant Hospitality magazine, Preston Pesek, the co-founder and CEO of Spacious said his company provided “greater exposure, greater visibility to the neighborhood residents, a different level of access than was previously available, and we deliver a crowd of people in your space.” 

He added: “What we like to say, when we talk to restaurant partners, is we’re going to preserve your current state of normal, provided that that current state of normal leaves the dining room empty between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.”

Related:Restaurants embrace the coworking trend

Contact Gloria Dawson at [email protected]
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