Mum-of-two who bought her dad's favourite cafe and is now going broke pleads with Aussies to help her out... but should they?
Single mum-of-two Ayesha Byrne, 34, owns and operates Rito's Café & Continental delicatessen in Christies Beach in Adelaide 's southern suburbs.
Facing rising costs, flat-lining customer demand during the cost-of-living crisis, and $20,000 in debts, the single mum last week reluctantly launched a GoFundMe page.
Ms Byrne told Daily Mail Australia the fundraiser was 'pretty much the last card I could play'.
Ms Byrne grew up in the area and would go to Rito's every afternoon with her father where they would talk about their days over pork pies and hot chocolate.
'That's basically why I bought it,' she said, adding that he did not live long enough to see her acquire their special place in 2023 but knows he would be proud.
'Maybe not right now,' she joked.
'I'm a small business owner, a mum-of-two and I've literally poured everything into that place so, really... it's just a bid for survival.'
Like many small businesses along Beach Road in the outer suburban mortgage belt, and across the country generally, Ms Byrne is facing hard times as people's discretionary spending budget is cut to the bone.
Things came to a head in February when she was locked out of her own store by a locksmith and bailiff hired by the landlord for failing to pay her rent.
The mum-of-two was doing the school pick-up when she was notified.
Unable to pay the outstanding amount, the locks were changed and a bailiff arranged for a full inventory of the store to be posted on the windows for sale, along with a termination of the lease.
'It was a very public thing... I was so embarrassed,' she said.
It was five days before she was able to get a new key and regain access to the shop.
Strapped for cash, Ms Byrne nonetheless offered to pay for counselling for staff who were present at the time and seemingly faced with immediate unemployment.
Ms Byrne announced the reopening of the café in an Instagram post in which she called on locals to indulge in the store's deli goods and freshly-brewed coffee.
'Getting Rito's back on its feet after a wild few weeks, we unfortunately have to throw away so much stock that we would usually have donated,' she said.
'And while that's been tough, it's nothing compared to what's ahead to rebuild.'
Ms Byrne bought the store in June of 2023 and, faced with lower than expected stock levels, she was forced to spend most of her contingency fund simply to get the store up and running.
Last year was the worst on record for business insolvencies nationwide, not just because of customers cutting their spending, but electricity costs increased by more than 50 per cent and rising interest rates saw borrowing costs hit their highest in a generation.
The neighboring Coles also posed a bigger threat to the cafe's deli section than Ms Byrne had initially thought.
Faced with the risk of bankruptcy, Ms Byrne reached out to her community, local politicians and influencers for support.
'A lot of them ghosted me, but I thought: "I've got to shoot my shot",' she said.
Apart from a stop-in by South Australian MP for Kaurna Chris Picton and a few extra cups of coffee purchased by local residents, the drive failed to move the needle.
The struggle has spread beyond the business and is impacting Ms Byrne's personal life.
Since purchasing the store, she has cut back on discretionary expenses including hair appointments.
More recently, she was forced to arrange a payment plan with the school attended by her two boys.
'Being a small business owner as well, [you're] just making hard decisions every single day of your life.'
As of writing, Ms Byrne's GoFundMe page has raised just over $1,500 towards a $5,000 goal.
'I never thought I'd be writing this, I never wanted to ask for help,' she wrote on the website for the fundraiser.
'For the past few months, I've been fighting quietly behind the scenes through lawyers, through negotiations, trying to keep Rito's alive without needing to involve anyone else.
'I believed if I just worked harder, I could save it myself. But it's reached a point where I can't do it alone anymore.'
Every dollar raised by the fundraiser will go towards repaying her landlord, covering legal fees and keeping the store up and running.
A link to Ms Byrne's GoFundMe page can be found here.
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