After more than 20 years in business, glam grocery store Pusateri’s will be closing its doors in Yorkville at the end of March. Pusateri’s stated that they made the decision not to renew the lease for the store located at 57 Yorkville Ave.
“… Several factors [are] driving a shift in the retail landscape, which impacted this property,” Pusateri’s marketing head, Paolo Pusateri, told Grocery Business magazine.
Opening in 2003 as its second location, the retail space was the company’s smallest, spanning approximately 5,500 square feet.
When the Yorkville location first opened, it received much fanfare.
In a Globe and Mail article, Pusateri’s CEO and President Frank Luchetta likened the new store to a “food art gallery” rather than a grocery store. “We call it Pusateri crossed with Dean & Deluca [an upscale U.S. grocery chain],” he said.
Along with valet parking, a juice bar built around an orange tree, more than 120 employees and even a take-home chef, the Yorkville Pusateri’s redefined the concept of takeout.
The company’s plan is to focus on its three remaining retail locations — Avenue Road, Bayview Village and the Eaton Centre — as well as a new 10,000 square foot store set to open in Little Italy come spring.
Salvatore Pusateri immigrated to Toronto from Sicily in 1958. Five years later, he opened his first store — a produce market in the Corso Italia neighbourhood. In 1986, Salvatore’s son Cosimo expanded the business, transforming the shop from a simple fruit stand to a gourmet grocery store chain. This transformation began with the opening of a 6,000-square-foot location at Lawrence Avenue West and Avenue Road.
Since then, the luxury grocery chain has seen several successful openings. However, there have also been a number of closures. In 2018, the Oakville location shuttered after a two-year run, and just last year, its food hall location at CF Sherway Gardens permanently closed its doors.