Brasserie T! announces its immediate closure, resulting in the layoff of 130 employees.
Published yesterday at 5:22 p.m.
Co-owners Chef Normand Laprise and Christine Lamarche made the announcement Wednesday, citing operating costs, the negative impact of inflation and staff turnover.
Brasserie T! had several addresses, in the Montreal neighborhood of Mile End/Parc-Extension, in Sainte-Thérèse and in Brossard, at Comptoir-Epicerie on Avenue Beaumont in Montreal and at Burger T! from Time Out Market in Montreal.
Shareholders are already looking for professionals in this area who are willing to take over the companies in question and hire existing employees, according to a press release. The workers were informed of the news on Wednesday morning, it is said, and the company said it wanted to help them find jobs in the catering industry.
The Toqué! restaurant, the flagship of the group led by Normand Laprise, remains operational and will open on January 10th after the holiday break.
According to Mr. Laprise, executive chef and co-founder of the group, Brasserie T! “worked well” and ridership was “good,” but the pandemic happened at the worst time in the network’s evolution. The expansion plan launched in 2019 included a production kitchen and the opening of five Brasserie T! restaurants, he emphasized in the press release, saying he made the decision to close “with regret and as a very last resort.”
“The operating costs of our production kitchen in Beaumont were too high to serve just three branches. So our business was loss-making. Without the pandemic, development would already be at an end,” he claims.
He cites the increase in raw material, construction and labor costs as inflation.
Mr. Laprise and Ms. Lamarche say they want Toqué's sustainability! ensure “which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2023”.
“Even if the situation at Brasserie T! “Having weakened their group financially, the duo hopes to quickly stabilize their situation in the coming months,” reads the press release.