Caitlin Golich saw it coming, just not this soon.
Golich thought she’d have until Christmas, or at least longer than Sunday at 6 p.m.
A senior at the University, Golich lost her job Sunday along with other students and Bowling Green residents after a Johnny Rockets restaurant in Perrysburg announced it would not open its doors Monday morning.
“The first thing I started thinking about was my rent,” Golich said.
Golich pays for her rent without assistance and lives in Bowling Green with Amanda Knollman, an assistant manager at Johnny Rockets who also lost her job Sunday.
Knollman, who worked at Johnny Rockets for a year, saw the closing coming too, but she was a little more prepared for it.
“We saw it going downhill,” Knollman said. “I put my resume in at other places when I noticed we just weren’t getting busy.”
Knollman is a recent graduate from Owens Community College and also pays for her own rent, utilities and other necessities out of her pocket.
“The utilities are all in my name since I made the most money,” Knollman said. “I just thought about what I’d have to tell my roommates and about everyone else who worked there.”
After the closing, Knollman began helping her coworkers find and apply for new jobs.
“I really enjoyed working there; it was a close-knit group of people,” Knollman said. “I’ve been in touch with at least 15 places, putting in recommendations for people.”
Johnny Rockets in Perrysburg first opened its doors in October 2004, according to a press release from the Johnny Rockets News Bureau. Jim Arnold, managing partner of the Johnny Rockets LLC, closed the restaurant after trying to transfer the business to “corporate.” Until Sunday, Arnold thought the deal for the transfer would still work.
“Right up until that point (the Sunday that Arnold closed the restaurant) I thought we were making the transfer,” Arnold said. “It was the last thing we wanted to do, especially so abruptly, but it got to that point where we just had to stop the bleeding.”
The recession and the economy were the reasons for the restaurant’s closing, Arnold said.
As former Johnny Rockets employees continue job searching, Chris Bullins, associate dean of students, encourages students like Golich to use the University’s Career Center.
“I often refer [students] to the Career Center,” Bullins said. “They don’t have to travel and it’s free.”
The Career Center offers students job listings both on and off campus and the opportunity to do mock interviews with staff members.
Until Golich finds a new job through the Career Center or elsewhere, she’ll have to rely on what she has saved in the bank.
“I’ve got a little bit of savings and my parents will probably help me out too, but I’ll have to pay them back,” Golich said. “Luckily I’m fortunate enough to have parents that can afford to help me out.”
