ClusterTruck has closed its Carmel location only weeks after reopening in the city in late January.
In an email to customers, CEO Chris Baggott stated that he didn’t feel the team had met its goal to provide the “highest quality prepared food delivery” and that an increasingly competitive labor market has presented challenges.
“During this closure we are going to be investing in our team, we’re looking at things like pay and training,” Baggett stated in the email. “It’s no secret that Carmel is a competitive labor market. When we lost our lease five months ago, starting folks at $15-$16 was a top wage that recruited the top people. Like all other things, that pay rate is no longer good enough to recruit the best. As far as I’m concerned, if we’re not going to be the best, there is no point even showing up.”
ClusterTruck, a delivery-only restaurant with a street food-inspired menu made fresh just minutes before it is delivered, ceased operations in Carmel for four months after losing its lease in the Hamilton Crossing retail center, which is being redeveloped as the headquarters and training facility for Republic Airways. It opened a new kitchen Jan. 31 in the Kroger on Range Line Road.
Baggott stated in the email that he expects ClusterTruck will reopen in Carmel in a few weeks. ClusterTruck officials did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.
