Stooges Bar & Grill owner says the Louisville business may not reopen after UPS crash

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The owner of Stooges Bar & Grill said mounting financial losses and an ongoing investigation into last year's deadly UPS cargo plane crash left her business future uncertain.

According to a report from our partners at Louisville Business First, Debbie Self said she's lost roughly $1 million in sales since the crash and has continued paying employees while waiting for answers from investigators and insurance companies. Environmental testing has been conducted inside and outside the building, but final results have not yet been returned.

Stooges — located on Grade Lane near the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport — was just outside the immediate impact area of the November crash that killed 15 people and scattered debris across nearby properties. While the building was not directly struck, Self said smoke, fuel and oil contamination have made reopening unlikely.

"I'm sitting here with nothing coming in and I had a good business — 43 years' worth," Self said. "It's not just that. I paid over $40,000 out to keep my employees paid through Jan. 31. It's just a lot of money going out, nothing coming in."

Some nearby businesses were cleared to resume deliveries earlier this month after utility repairs were completed, but Self said the condition of her property remains unresolved. She is among business owners involved in a class-action lawsuit related to the crash.

Stooges, a longtime fixture near the airport and popular with UPS and Ford workers, has operated for more than four decades. Self said it has been difficult to accept that the business could permanently close while the investigation continues.

"It's pretty bad," she said. "I know everybody thinks 'Oh, she can open right back up. It'll be fine.' No, it don't work that way."

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