Bar 1888, in South Street, Bourne, closes and building put up for lease as inflation takes toll

The owner of a bar which closed within months of opening has blamed rocketing inflation and its effect on people's spending habits.

Bar 1888 opened in Bourne in July 2021, specialising in tapas and Italian and Spanish wine after owners Toni Cammarata and Rob Diiorio converted the former barber's shop.

However, after struggling to turn a profit, they closed the doors just over a year later in October to decide what to do next.

And soon after, the decision was made to close the South Street bar for good.

"It seems to be the story for a lot of people on the high street at the minute," Toni said.

"I was just going to see how it went for a few weeks, but it didn't really improve.

"We weren't losing money, we were breaking even, but with the looming financial crisis at the time I just thought the profit margins would be slashed even more.

"I didn't want to be in a position where we were losing money."

They have put the commercial unit up for lease, although Bar 1888 is still taking bookings for private functions.

"We have had a couple of interested in running it as a bar, but the right candidates haven't come along yet," Toni said.

"I think people are just unsure how things are going to work out because of inflation."

Toni has run the DC10 hairdressing salon in Market Deeping since 2010 and was working at the restaurant in the evenings.

He says the salon is also still feeling the impact of covid, a situation exacerbated by the current economic climate, and believes the Government need to do more to stop further independent businesses going to the wall.

"With inflation, the price of everything was going up and people were spending less so it was a difficult scenario for the bar," Toni explained.

"Even with the salon, most companies we buy supplies from are putting up their prices by 15 per cent to keep up with inflation, but inflation in reality is probably nearer 20 per cent."