u/KittenSwagger

Hello,

This would be my first purchase using Bring a Trailer and I opted to use the Bring a Trailer verified checkout process. Instead of driving the car back, I opted to have the car shipped through the transportation services they offer. It has been a little over a week and a half, and they have yet to find a transporter. Is this normal?

I don’t wanna be a bother to them, but I also feel there is no sense of urgency. At what point do I contact them or do they do something to further progress the ability for me to get my car?

Feeling a little lost and possibly impatient?

The route is San Diego to North Dakota (which I know probably isn’t a popular route, but I feel like I should have heard SOMETHING from them after 10 days.)

FARGO — A year and a half after moving into the former BernBaum’s Deli and reinventing itself as a modern supper club in downtown Fargo, Nova Supper Club and Eatery will close its doors, according to its owners.
Co-owners Nikki Berglund and Ryan Nitschke said the restaurant will remain open through June, giving customers one last opportunity to experience the mid-century-inspired eatery while allowing staff time to prepare for the transition.

“I do believe that — in another world, another time, another economy — that concept was one of my favorites. I love everything we do, but I really stand by this concept,” Berglund told The Forum late last week.
Berglund also planned to write a letter to the community via The Forum’s Opinion page this week, which will help explain the owners’ decision to close while thanking community members who supported the business.
Nova was the second iteration of the restaurant brand for Berglund and Nitschke, who also operate several other successful eateries, including Luna Fargo and Sol Ave. Kitchen in Moorhead. The first version of Nova launched in October 2022, operating as a “permanently located food truck concept” out of a converted shipping-container-turned-kitchen attached to the former Fargo Brewing Co.
After the acclaimed Broadway deli BernBaum’s closed its doors in September of 2024 and Fargo Brewing closed two months later, Berglund and Nitschke began eyeing the location as the next home for an elevated version of Nova.
“Honestly, it was more of a timing issue,” Berglund said. “We were looking to relocate after the Fargo Brewing closing and the Bernbaum’s space opened up.”
The co-owners are friends with BernBaum’s owners Andrea Baumgardner and Brett Bernath and knew they still had a lease to fulfill. The Nova owners, in turn, needed a move-in-ready space as “we didn’t have the funds to start over as a restaurant,” Berglund said. “We knew we had some big shoes to fill and our hope was that it would be sort of a win-win for everyone.”
It also helped that “we had always loved the space and the idea of being a part of downtown,” she added.
After a VIP soft-opening/crowd-funding event in early April of last year, the supper club officially opened to the public in mid-April. It was promoted as an elevated Midwestern supper-club experience which melded old-school supper-club classics like relish trays, pork chops and steaks with updated dishes like smashburgers or roasted bone marrow.
Nitschke said the restaurant got off to a strong start, particularly during its opening month. “We did really well for a little bit,” he said. “For a couple of months there it was. Then it just dropped off.”
But despite strong reviews and a devoted following, the numbers didn’t reach the level necessary to sustain the business. “We probably needed about double what we’re doing for our concept to work,” Berglund said.

The owners said lunch service remained relatively strong, but the evening crowds essential to a thriving supper-club model never remained consistent enough. Some weekends brought encouraging traffic, but many nights after sunset were quiet.
The owners aren’t sure why their late-evening hours weren’t busier. It could simply be a lingering effect of post-COVID cocooning, a collective tightening of purse strings or a persistent narrative, perpetuated by some, that downtown is unsafe.
The owners believe those claims were unsubstantiated. “We never had any issues with the unhoused population. Never,” Berglund said. “But I think there was a perception and a narrative we got caught in the middle of. The reality is we personally just couldn’t continue to fund that. We are two families that own our business, and there comes a time when you have to make a decision.”
The decision came after months of deliberation between the business partners, who said they repeatedly postponed making a final decision in hopes that business would improve.
“There’d be times when Ryan would say, 'I think it’s time,’ and then something would happen that would make us think maybe it’s going to be OK,” Berglund said. “We just kept going back and forth.”
Unlike some startups backed by investors with deep pockets, they launched Nova with limited capital and a need to pivot quickly after Fargo Brewing closed. Both said they opened without the financial cushion typically available when launching a new restaurant.”
“We started behind,” Nitschke said.
The owners also chose not to compromise on ingredient quality or employee wages in efforts to reduce expenses.
“These are non-negotiables,” Nitschke said. “We’re not going to sacrifice the quality and integrity of what we do.”
As the partners own and manage several properties, they also needed to pay out salaries for a chef and a general manager, which contributed to overhead costs. “If this was just our only business, and we were just working in it most of the time, we might have been able to hang out a little bit longer,” he said.
When customer numbers sagged, they streamlined their staff from around 25 employees to 12. This placed additional responsibilities and pressure on their existing team, which remaining staffers gamely accepted.
“Our core team is just really great,” Nitschke said. “Everybody became dishwashers. Everybody became hosts. Everybody helped wherever they could.”
The owners wanted to make sure employees were informed about the closure before they made any public announcement. Team members received about a month of notice, and many are expected to transition into positions at their other businesses.
“We wanted to make sure they weren’t blindsided,” Berglund said.
The closure will not affect the company’s other operations. “Our other businesses are doing really well, Berglund said.
In fact, one factor driving the decision was concern that Nova’s ongoing losses would begin to impact the attention and resources available for Luna or Sol.
Nitschke recalls asking himself, “How can we afford to close? Then we got to a point where it became, ‘How can we afford not to?’”
Berglund agreed: “When you have a failing business, it takes away your ability to be a good business person with the rest of your businesses,.”
The owners say they have committed to honoring all financial obligations linked to the restaurant. Employees, vendor and landlords will be paid.  Customers holding gift cards or Givebutter contributions will be accommodated through Nova through the end of this month or through the company’s other establishments after that.
The owners also hope the space will find new life under a different operator. After investing heavily in renovations, kitchen upgrades, plumbing improvements and other infrastructure, they believe the restaurant offers a move-in-ready opportunity for another entrepreneur.
“It’s a beautiful space,” Berglund said. “It would be a perfect turnkey restaurant for someone.”
While Nova’s chapter is closing, both owners remain optimistic about the future of their businesses and downtown Fargo as a whole.
“We really wanted to be part of a vibrant downtown,” Berglund said. “We still do.”