A Nashville coffee shop temporarily closed after an adjacent building collapse has plastered its windows calling out the cost of Nashville's continuing growth.

Fido, a Bongo Java coffee shop and cafe, has been temporarily closed since two outside walls of the Impeccable Pig boutique collapsed on 21st Avenue South in Nashville's Hillsboro Village. Fido, which opened in the neighborhood in 1996, is housed in the same building as the shop.

On Friday, handwritten, brown paper posters were plastered across the restaurant's windows with a strong message for the community.

"Darn symbolic of the cost of Nashville’s growth that the construction of a chain restaurant that will compete directly with us forced us to close," the sign posted in Fido's windows said. "Now locals are being temporarily put out of business even before competing chains open."

The Nashville Fire Department has not released a cause of the collapse. Work crews have been in the rubble since Thursday.

What chain is moving in?

The roof of the building at 1802 21st Ave. S, currently rented by Impeccable Pig, fell in on Wednesday, causing the front and side walls of the building to collapse.

That building was built in 1915, according to Davidson County property records.

Next to Impeccable Pig is an empty lot where Jackson's Bar and Bistro used to sit. It was torn down last year and turned into a parking lot for a while.

In April, New Orleans-based all-day-breakfast joint Ruby Sunshine announced plans to move into that space on the corner of 21st Avenue South and Belcourt Avenue. Although witnesses said there was no active construction at the time of the building collapse, work has been ongoing at that site.

Ruby Sunshine co-owners Jennifer and Erich Weishaupt said their restaurant is not overseeing construction.

"We’re saddened to see the repercussions that the 21st Avenue building collapse has caused for surrounding businesses," they said in an emailed statement. "Though Ruby Sunshine does not own the building and therefore is not overseeing its construction, we have leased space in the building with plans to open later this year. We understand the deep-rooted sense of community that makes Hillsboro Village such a cherished neighborhood. As a family-run business, we are committed to ensuring our restaurants only add value to both the community members and surrounding businesses."

Ruby Sunshine and Ruby Slipper operate restaurants in Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama and Florida. In Nashville, it is expected to join an already crowded market of coffee and breakfast-oriented restaurants in Hillsboro Village, including Fido, Revelator Coffee Co., Biscuit Love, Pancake Pantry, Bare Naked Bagel and The Donut + Dog.

Community support for Fido

Bob Bernstein, Fido's owner, said he put up the signs to clarify for Fido customers why the establishment was closed and to let them know it would reopen. He also saw an opportunity to point out the challenge small business owners face amid a rapidly changing retail environment in growing Nashville.

"We will be back soon," another sign said in a Fido window, "And with the landlord's permission & support of the community."

"I wanted to talk about how I feel — how it's getting more and more difficult for small businesses to operate here in Nashville and bring some attention to it," Bernstein said. "This is just a very symbolic visual of what I think is making it more difficult for small operators to be in business in Nashville."

While Fido has endured the addition of new competitors, Bernstein said there is an impact on business, from parking options to finding employees.

"Anytime you open a business with pretty much the same focus right next to you, it can't help but hurt," Bernstein said. "There are only so many customers, so many parking places."

Fido itself is part of a chain, if only a smaller, local one. Bongo started in 1993 with one cafe and has grown to include five cafes, a roasting company and a bakery. Box is in 12South, Fenwick's 300 diner is on 8th Avenue and Grin's vegetarian restaurant is on Vanderbilt University's campus, with Bongo locations on Belmont Boulevard and in East Nashville. Bernstein's establishments are designed differently, crafted for each neighborhood, as opposed to a chain model that often duplicates menus in different cities or neighborhoods.

"Nashville should look different than New Orleans, should look different than Boston and wherever else," Bernstein said. "There are more and more regional and national chains popping up and more even local chains popping up in every neighborhood, that it's becoming homogenization of Nashville neighborhoods and makes Nashville less interesting."

Bernstein also emphasized the value of locally-owned small businesses, where profits are plowed back into the community rather than into another city.

"It’s a huge difference where a company is based," he said. "All of our profit is going to stay here."

Fido and the future of Hillsboro Village

Another Fido sign also offered "kudos" to the Davis family, which owns the space across the street recently occupied by a long-running cookware shop until its closure was announced earlier this month.

Women’s retail store Molly Green, which has locations in East Nashville, Green Hills and Franklin, will take over the space once the cookware shop closes.

"Showing their commitment to Nashville, they sacrificed dollars to rent to locally owned small business! Thank you for all you have done and we will miss you in Hillsboro Village" the sign said. "You can help by shopping and eating locally."

Bernstein said the Davis family's decision to rent to a local business owner, is uncommon given the more lucrative options available to landlords.

"The contrast of what they are doing with their space, as they decided it's time to close, compared to what other landlords are doing in Hillsboro Village and elsewhere is remarkable," he said. "Because they have been long supporters of small local business, they have been a small local business, they get it. They understand the changing nature of Nashville. They could cash in and they are not."

Bernstein said he does not know when Fido will reopen. The process is complicated and involves several parties, including insurance companies, engineers, lawyers, contractors, business owners and property owners.

"(They) need to figure out what needs to be done, who is going to do it and who is going to pay for it," Bernstein said. "Everyone has to get on the same page."

The damage to Fido extends beyond lost revenue, which Bernstein said he hopes will be addressed by insurers. Employees will have to weigh how long they can go without a paycheck or reimbursement, he said, and customers will take time to return if they are uncertain about whether it is open yet.

"The difficult thing is rebuilding the business we spent 22 years to build up," Bernstein said. "There is the question about what is going to happen to employees who have no work for however long we are out of business. So, how many can afford to stick around with the promise they get paid for their time off?"

A blank poster on the side of the building facing the alley had started to be filled with "we miss you" notes and other well-wishes on Friday afternoon. Residents and business owners in the Village neighborhood who milled around after the crash Wednesday said they have lived and worked in the area for years.

In all caps, the sign posters made a promise to Nashville: "Fido will be here another 20 years."

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Reach reporter Mariah Timms at mtimms@tennessean.com or 615-259-8344 and on Twitter @MariahTimms.

Reach Jamie McGee at 615-259-8071 and on Twitter @JamieMcGee_.