Editor’s Note: The original version of this article incorrectly stated that Pusateri’s owed $37M in debts to creditors. It has since been updated to reflect the true outstanding amount. This discrepancy was caused by a misinterpretation of the filings posted by insolvency trustee Albert Gelman Inc. In actuality, Pusatari’s debts total $6.56M, which has been confirmed by Albert Gelman Inc.
Last week, high-end Toronto grocery store Pusateri's filed for bankruptcy at three of its locations, later announcing that it would be consolidating its operations into its Avenue Road flagship store. The Eaton Centre Saks Food Hall location will also remain open for business.
Set to close their doors are the Bayview Village, Little Italy, and Pusateri's Kitchen Ltd. locations, all of which Albert Gelman Inc. has been appointed to as insolvency trustee.
According to court documents posted by Albert Gelman Inc. earlier this week, the high-end grocery store owes creditors more than $6.5M in unpaid credit. Owing the largest sum is the Bayview Village location at $853,106, followed by the Kitchen Ltd. location, which supplied the various Pusateri’s stores with in-house branded products, at $583,250, and the planned Little Italy location at $178,475.
The creditors range from a long list of unsecured entities — mainly suppliers, such as Bento Sushi, Mad Mexican, and Rogers Communications — to secured creditors, the most notable being Scotiabank, to which the three locations owe an additional $4.9M, bringing the total to $6.56M.
According to reporting from the Toronto Star, numerous suppliers attest that the grocery store has failed to deliver or been slow on payments since the onset of COVID19, including one that has been waiting on a payment of $2,000 for over six months, and another that had ceased business relations with the store due to late payments and lack of communication.
In a statement delivered via the company's Instagram account on Monday, part owner Ira Pusateri shared that the "not easy" decision to close several locations was "a necessary step to ensure the long term success and sustainability of our brand so we keep all our attention and focus on serving you, our customers, with the best products and service around."
According to court documents, the first meeting of the creditors will be held on August 30, 2024.
