An Echo Park donut shop will soon be shuttered after the landlord sold the storefront, forcing the business to vacate.
Annenn Nou and her husband Sophany have owned and operated Ms. Donut since 2016. They’ve been paying rent every month since their lease expired two years ago, despite a series of financial setbacks.
In 2019, Nou was diagnosed with cancer and had to pay for treatment. Then the pandemic hit, bringing business to a halt.
“We had to close the store for six weeks,” Nou told KNX News’ Margaret Carrero. “During two years, the schools and the downtown was closed, so we had no people driving by, stopping by. So some months were okay, some months were really bad.”
Late last year, the building’s landlord put the storefront up for sale.
“They finally found a buyer and they closed escrow last week, and the new owner needs the place for his own restaurant and they asked us to leave by the end of August,” Nou said.
She says it would take about $100,000 to relocate to a new place - money they don’t have, since they invested all their savings into the business. Without the donut shop, Annenn, Sophany, and their three young children will lose their source of income overnight.
A GoFundMe has been started to give the family a safety net while they figure out their next steps. As of Thursday, the fundraiser has raised almost $13,000.
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