The restaurant is one of the few businesses left standing in the state after the closure of the state-owned company, which was sold for $3.5 billion.
It is one among a string of smaller businesses left reeling after the shutdown of the nation’s largest pizza chain, the owner of which is a billionaire and the state’s richest man.
“The idea that we are in a state of economic crisis and that we have to close businesses is just not true,” Joe’s owner Peter Bourgeois said.
“We’ve never had this problem in the past, and I think people understand that.”
Joe’s opened in 1997 and has a loyal following in Idaho, Utah and elsewhere in the United States.
But the restaurant chain’s fortunes have waned in recent years, with sales dropping and the number of customers plummeting as competitors have taken over.
Businesses in the Idaho community have suffered a loss of more than $100 million in the last year, according to the state government’s annual economic assessment, according, to the Idaho State Chamber of Commerce.
Bourgeois is among the many businessmen who have lost their businesses as a result of the closure.
Some of the more than 30 business owners in Idaho are struggling to stay afloat.
“It’s not going to get better, it will get worse,” said Bourgeois, whose restaurant has been closed since the summer.
“I don’t think there is a place for a business like this in this community, and we have lost a lot of business, and it’s really hurt us.”
In the last five years, Idaho’s unemployment rate has fallen to 4.4 percent, down from 9.1 percent in 2012, according a March report by the Idaho Economic Development Corp. Joe’s closed its doors after the government’s assessment was issued last year.
“Joe’s Pizza has not been in business for many years, so they’ve had some issues that are a little bit more serious,” said Idaho State Treasurer John McKeown, who was the state treasurer at the time.
“Some of those issues have been resolved.”
McKeow said the restaurant has reopened, but will be closed in the spring.
The state estimates that about 2,500 jobs have been lost at the business, including 3,400 full-time jobs, the report said.
The closure is the latest in a series of business closures that have hit Idaho, including the closing of two local restaurants and a chain of fast-food restaurants.
Business owners in the Boise area say they have lost hundreds of jobs as a direct result of this economic crisis.
But Bourgeois disagrees.
“There is nothing wrong with people being laid off and having their jobs lost,” he said.
Bressons restaurant has more than 3,000 tables, according the Idaho Department of Labor and Industries.
“My job is to make sure that we’re making a profit,” he added.
“Our customers want to come in, and they want to pay us.
They want to eat here.”