Avenue A restaurant Po-K Loco closes after five years of business – North Texas Daily
Po-K Loco, a poke restaurant located close to Fry Street, closed last Sunday due to declining business, which the owner mainly attributes to external delivery services.
Po-K Loco opened in February 2019, and the restaurant served various poke bowls of fresh seafood, rice and vegetables, along with an assortment of nachos, according to their website. Micah Fleck, Denton resident and owner of Po-K Loco, said a steep decline in business, commissions taken from takeout orders for delivery services and the need for fresh seafood forced Po-K Loco to close.
“We’re not making enough money to stay up,” Fleck said. “The declining business is probably directly relatable to the takeout business.”
According to Fleck, the commission fee taken by external food delivery services, such as DoorDash or UberEats, accounts for up to 30 percent of each meal delivered for Po-K Loco.
“We use all three different platforms: Grubhub, DoorDash and UberEats,” Fleck said. “There used to be a point in time we would do a couple hundred [dollars] on Uber and a couple hundred on DoorDash a day.”
Because takeout orders done by delivery companies like DoorDash and UberEats are a significant portion of all of Po-K Loco’s orders, the commission for each delivery takes a large portion of the total profit, Fleck said.
Po-K Loco’s closure was not sudden, said Joey Skoog, a supervisor at Po-K Loco who worked at the restaurant since February of 2022. According to Fleck, closure had been a looming possibility for the past year.
“We were planning on closing in September, which is when our lease was ending, but they worked out a deal,” said Skoog.
As of late, sales had declined by about half if not more, Skoog said, but the owner and staff were told of the restaurant’s closing only the Monday before.
“Everyone’s like, ‘that’s just how it has to happen I guess,’” said Carson Parker, a Po-K Loco employee who had worked there for the past 2 months. “I mean, it’s a really fun job working here, it’s very chill and a lot more laid back than all the other food places I’ve worked at before.”
Fleck said he was “bummed” about the closure.
“It’s been 5 years of hard work and dedication,” said Fleck. “We had a great team, great staff, very little turnover. People have stayed with me for 2-3 years at times, so in that aspect it’s been fantastic.”
During the pandemic, Po-K Loco leaned heavily on takeout orders due to the various constraints placed on travel and contact, and Po-K Loco did “okay” during this time, Fleck said. The business was already set up for takeout orders, and staff did not mind the takeout type of business. Before the pandemic restrictions got worse, Fleck got a second job in anticipation of trouble. His second job during the pandemic was doing healthcare recruiting, and he eventually switched jobs to sell commercial flooring with the company Superior Floors.
As Po-K Loco struggled more, Fleck’s second job started to become more of a support for the business, he said. Po-K Loco’s closing, albeit looming, was constantly delayed by Fleck’s dedication and love for his business.
Po-K Loco also has a sister location near the Denton square called Komodo Loco, located at 109 Oakland St, that is not facing the same issues of business decline that plagued Po-K Loco, Fleck said.
“That’s pretty much where Denton goes now,” said Fleck. “I can’t speak for all of Denton, but the majority of Denton doesn’t really come over here to Fry Street or Avenue A, sometimes due to the parking.”
The building where Po-K Loco was located is currently up for lease, according to a spokesperson from its management company, Property Search. More info can be found on their Facebook page.
