It’s the end for the Société des Cafés, on March 3e Avenue in Limoilou, which files for bankruptcy after three years.
The restaurant closed its doors two weeks ago. The store’s co-owner Jonathan Parent says several factors have brought the business to an impasse.
“First of all, the economic situation. As entrepreneurs, we made the decision two years ago to dare the adventure and open a branch on Cartier Avenue. Unfortunately, it was a difficult adventure for us.”
“After nine months we had to withdraw, not without economic damage. We expected to recover from this situation over the following year, but inflation compounded this and the current economic climate resulted in higher costs. We have experienced a decline in our sales. We’ve been able to look ahead, we’ve had conversations with our partners, who also have their own difficulties, and we’ve been under a lot of pressure,” added Mr. Parent.
Mental health
“There’s also a dose of mental health that plays into the decision. As humans, we wondered if we still wanted to fight and at what cost our sanity was suffering. After some thought, we realized it was necessary.
However, Mr. Parent regrets that he was unable to notify his customers.
“You don’t necessarily decide how things end. This is not a damage free clasp. We’re talking about bankruptcy. From the moment we decided to go in this direction, we were no longer in control of the message. Things went excessively fast and we followed the directions that were given to us.
Some coffee bag orders have been prepared. Between the deactivation of the websites, it is possible that certain orders have been taken, a situation that Mr. Parent regrets.
Without prior notice
“If I have the opportunity, I would like to tell these people that they can contact their bank to ask for the transactions to be reversed because they did not receive their property. Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do about it,” he said.
For Mr. Parent and his partner, who is his wife, this is the beginning of a long sorrow since they put their heart and soul into their business.
“We were very happy to be able to serve our customers. On the other hand, we weren’t happy about not being able to control the message and tell people that we’re sorry and that we have to close our doors. If we could have done it differently, we would have done it,” he said.
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