Albuquerque, NM (KKOB) –Erin Wade, the owner of the downtown restaurant Vinaigrette, has announced that the restaurant will be closing down on Nov. 5th – either for good or at least temporarily. She has referenced a number of issues regarding the closure, including staffing concerns, inflation, and changing consumer habits as the reasons behind the decision. However, leaders with the New Mexico Restaurant Association say there’s another obvious reason. NMRA CEO Carol Wight says “we’ve got to get the crime under control or we’re gonna continue to lose businesses.” That thought backed up by the latest data from Colliers via Albuquerque Business First, shows downtown Albuquerque is facing an 18-percent vacancy rate for retail spaces. That’s compared to just a 0.7-percent rate in the uptown neighborhood.
