DINER: Popular “Fray On Fraser” Closes Despite Profits, Citing Partnership Dispute
March 17, 2013
by Andrew Morrison | Fray – a casual, irreverent, very popular restaurant serving crave-worthy chow at 3980 Fraser Street – has shuttered after just a year and a half in business. The announcement came on Twitter late last night…
It is with regret that we have to announce, due to a partnership dispute, that Fray has closed its doors. The… fb.me/HpPJFqrV
— Fray on Fraser (@FrayOnFraser) March 17, 2013
The link in the tweet is dead, but a message on their website (below) tells a side of the story, which makes it sound like the whole thing is in Lawyerville limbo, which is never fun…
The place was full, profitable, and much loved by Fraser Street, but unfortunately a minority shareholder recently signed a contract to sell the business, against the instructions of the majority of investors. Now we’re in a situation where we either have to sell at a loss or face a lawsuit from the buyer, who wishes to close it and turn it into a vegan restaurant, if we don’t.
Given the circumstances, today we made the brutally hard decision to close the doors of a packed restaurant and let the lawyers do their thing. We can only apologize to those people who had bookings and come out every week for trivia and now have nowhere to feed their kids in the hood. We’ve fought beyond hard, but sometimes you’ve got to push back from the table and start afresh.
We’ll miss you, Fraser Street. But we won’t be gone for long.
Let’s hope not. But as one reader noted already in an email to Scout, “a ‘minority shareholder’ can’t make a legal contract to sell the business – a majority has to sign. So there’s something else going on.” Whatever it is, it’ll be good when it’s sorted, because pulled pork eggs benedict.
SEEN IN VANCOUVER #424: Hell’s Kitchen Shuttering In Kits A Case Of Abandonment?
January 24, 2013
The natural consequence of a dozen really good pizzerias opening in Vancouver within a couple of years of each other? Some of the old (and especially the shitty) ones whither and die. Exhibit C: Hell’s Kitchen pizzeria at 2401 West 4th Ave has “closed its doors permanently”. This happened a few days ago, apparently to the financial dismay of many (image found via Reddit).
UPDATE: A few people have commented below or contacted me directly to say that all is not as it seems with this note, specifically that it was written by the landlord. What’s more, several letters of support from staff/suppliers that were taped over the note have reportedly been taken down. So take it with a grain of salt.
