Despite a report in 2008 that Meinhardt had signed a 25 year lease at their 15,000 sq. ft. location on Arbutus next to the Ridge Theatre, they are about to close for good.
A notice has been posted on their storefront that that due to difficulties with their lease they are closing the doors permanently on December 24th at 4:00pm.
I have a feeling there may be a bigger story behind this development as they just completed the integration of Kin’s Market and Meridien Meats into the location this fall.
Last modified: January 13, 2011
Does anyone know if the Kins and Meridien Meats are going to follow through on their opening at the location despite the closing of Meinhardt’s?
Kins and Meridien had already been integrated into the store. As of the 22nd Meridien had completely pulledout all of their coolers.
The place was always empty the Staff were bored (and some outright nasty) I doubt they made a dime all the time they were there.
They claim a “problem with their lease”? The problem isn’t likely with the lease but the tenant. Why can’t they just suck it up and admit that they failed. It’s the fastest route to eventual success.
Kins and Meridien had already been integrated into the store. As of the 22nd Meridien had completely pulledout all of their coolers.
The store overshot the market – when it first opened a 4l container of milk was over $8.00. I think the owner thought people on the westside were stupidly rich. She also was attempting to sell bread (brought in from New York and France) for over $10.00 a loaf. I think finances, not lease problems, are why the store is closing. She did try to scale back the costly items but it was a case of too little, too late.
I went in a couple of times out of curiosity – found the prices a tad ridiculous. Used to shop there all the time back in the Buy-Low days.
I went there for the grand opening and had a wonderful time–a $10 purchase gave a gourmet lunch of shish kebabs, salads, awesome cupcakes, other desserts, live band, lots of people.
The bakery prices were not too high, but the other stuff…way out of my league…
Kins and Meridien had already been integrated into the store. As of the 22nd Meridien had completely pulledout all of their coolers.
Never shopped there because of what I heard about their pricing. In my opinion it just never seemed to fit that location.
This kind of makes me sad. Although I didn’t go there that often, I liked going there for their Indian take-out. It was an amazing deal considering the other options in town (quality-wise). I know things were expensive but some of it was so good!
According to their proposal, Meinhardt Fine Foods owes over 1 million dollars to suppliers and is proposing a maximum rebate of less than 15 cents on the dollar http://www.csvan.com/corporate/mff.html.
Bankruptcy at $0.15 on the dollar is a fantastic result for the Meinhardt’s. I wonder how the suppliers are dealing with the South Granville location, I’d be livid. Both stores have poorly trained and unfriendly staff – it’s gone steadily downhill over the years and due to that unhelpful attitude I’d rather drive to get my groceries even if Meinhardt is around the corner. Gotta keep pruning if you want your garden to look nice every season.