Despite Financial Hurdles, Oyster Bar Looks to the Future

Winter can be a trying time for business owners on the Island. Once the ground freezes and the tourists leave, the same few thousand people find themselves passing around the same few bucks. Most businesses close up shop for the off-season, unable to justify the costs of year-round operation. Each year a sizeable number of businesses never return.

The ebb and flow largely goes unnoticed; it’s considered a fact of Island life. But the in Oak Bluffs has been an exception. Its recent spate of financial hardships and sporadic closures has captured headlines for months.

The popular Circuit Avenue restaurant most recently found itself in the news again on March 28, after its parent company, MAD Corp, LLC, . It was the second time in less than three months that the restaurant has sought bankruptcy protection. MAD Corp. previously filed for bankruptcy on Jan. 14, the same day the building and its possessions were scheduled to be auctioned off.

During that time, there have been licensing issues, too. In February, Oak Bluffs officials discovered that the restaurant had been operating without a valid year-round liquor license and temporarily disallowed the restaurant to re-open. In March, the restaurant missed an Oak Bluffs board of health inspection and was forced to close until the issue was resolved.

Taken together, these reports can paint a picture of a restaurant in crisis, on the brink of collapse and at odds with authorities. Oyster Bar owner Michael Gillespie says that that’s not the case. He’s on good terms with town authorities and well supported by the community, he said, and is confident the restaurant will weather the storm.

Patch recently caught up with Gillespie to find out more about his plans for the future and his commitment to keeping the Oyster Bar a year-round destination. Since then he’s wasted no time. On Friday, the restaurant re-opened.

“The financial situation isn’t that bad. It really isn’t,” Gillespie told Patch. “There’s an issue there, but it will be resolved.”

Court records indicate that MAD Corp. owes payment to 17 creditors, including the Edgartown National Bank, the Internal Revenue Service and the Town of Oak Bluffs.

“It’s a difficult environment,” said Gillespie. “I’m not the only corporation in the United States of America, nor am I the on this tiny little Island that I love that’s having problems. But I seem to be the one that’s a lightening rod.”

Gillespie says that much of his, and others', recent troubles have to do with the Island landscape. The price of real estate is often prohibitively expensive, and the recent recession has had a negative impact on the umber of tourists who prop up the seasonal economy.

In a small community like Martha’s Vineyard, said Gillespie, economic hardships become especially prevalent. “We’re all passing the same $20 bill around,” Gillespie said.

Despite the inherent hardships of Island business ownership, Gillespie said he’s excited by the future. “Things are getting better. You’re seeing people working again. I really think we’re on the upswing now,” he said.

Gillespie said he plans to “change things up just a little bit” in order to attract crowds going forward. Part of that plan includes the possible expansion of entertainment options.

The Oak Bluffs Board of Selectmen is scheduled to vote on an applicaton for an entertainment license for the Oyster Bar in April. If it’s approved, Gillespie said, the restaurant will look to feature piano music and jazz, and is also hoping to partner with the MV Film Society to present film nights. In August, it hopes to host performers for the first-ever Martha's Vineyard Jazz Festival.

As for Gillespie’s past run-ins with town officials and licensing boards, he said he harbors no ill will.

“I think they’re doing a nice job. And I think they’re very fair, I really do,” said Gillespie. “They’re really smart, good people that are trying to make difficult decisions for the town,” he said. “They’re really working with people to come up with creative solutions. I love them for that. And I love them for the way they’ve dealt with me.”

That said, Gillespie acknowledges that owning a business is never without obstacles, and that maintaining a business on the Island can be an ongoing struggle.

“It’s my 12th season owning a restaurant here. You’re never over any hurdles. There will be another one the next day and the next day,” he said. “I feel like there are many hurdles in front of me and I look forward to negotiating them.”

Gillespie said he has no plans to reconsider his decision to stay open even in the dead winter months.

“I’m an Island business owner. I live here. This is my home,” he told Patch. “I understand you can’t go out and pick up buckets of $20 bills, as you do in the summertime, but I live here. This is my home and I want to be an Island business owner."