DOWNEY – Longtime Downey restaurant Stox has resorted to asking the public for help, as it stares down the very real possibility of closure due to COVID-19.

Located at 9518 Imperial Highway, catacorner from Kaiser Permanente, Stox has been a Downey staple for over half a century.

“We’ve been here almost 60 years; we’re the longest running restaurant in Downey,” said owner Jack Wannebo.

However, like many other restaurants, the impact of the coronavirus and the health protocols that come with it have taken their toll on Wannebo and his business.

More specifically, Wannebo’s staff.

According to Wannebo, his employees have exhausted their unemployment and are struggling to make ends meet. Most of them are also 55 years of age or older, and would not be able to easily find work elsewhere.

“They have nothing,” said Wannebo. “They have nothing to live on until we go back to work.”

“They were making enough money on the patio to survive. Now, they’ve been completely cut off.”

Wannebo said he is $350,000 in the hole, including expenditures to adapt to new health procedures and outdoor dining.

“We were shut down two and a half months,” said Wannebo. “In two and a half months we cleaned this place, did all the stuff they said – put plastic up, hand sanitizer, everything – we spent a fortune on that. They let us open up, everything started to get back to normal, and what happened? They shut us down.”

“Then we could go to the patio. We spent $40,000 building the patio…and then they shut us down again.”

Take-out was a wash as well.

According to Wannebo, the restaurant needs to maintain about $4,000 in business “just to break even.” The most the restaurant ever really pulled in through take-out operations was around $700.

“It’s cost me so much money” said Wannebo. “It’s a shame. I’ve been in business 50 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this.

If things don’t change soon, Wannebo suspects that it will not be long before the business is forced to permanently close its doors; one prediction as dire as within one month’s time.

A court ruling this week against LA County’s most recent dining shutdown has provided a glimmer of hope for Wannebo and Stox, but in the meantime he has set up a GoFundMe page to get some assistance from the community.

Money raised will be given to employees, Wannebo said.

“I’m just giving it to the help,” said Wannebo. “I’m not taking anything.”

At the time of writing, the fundraiser has garnered nearly $8,000. The fundraiser page can be found at www.gofundme.com/f/stox-restaurant.