DOWN ON ITS ’LUCA
Swanky gourmet chain is shrinking its footprint
Can’t afford that $45 box of cookies at Dean & DeLuca? Neither can Dean & DeLuca.
The 41-year-old gourmet grocer has been drastically downsizing its chain nationwide, quietly closing stores, stiffing landlords and fending off lawsuits from angry suppliers who say they haven't been paid for their pricey pastries, sources told The Post.
Chaos has mounted in recent months as the company retreats from an extravagant expansion plan spearheaded by Sorapoj Techakraisri, a 40year-old Thai property tycoon whose firm Pace Development Corp. acquired the chain in 2014 for $140 million.
The luxury-obsessed realestate mogul — who bought Dean & DeLuca even as he poured cash into building Thailand’s tallest skyscraper in the middle of a financial crisis — had envisioned a New York Stock Exchange listing this year, with 100 outlets in the US and nearly 100 more in 15 countries abroad.
Instead, Dean & DeLuca’s money-losing parent has shrunk the chain to just 18 stores from 42, including four in Manhattan and nine licensed stores overseas.
“He wanted to turn Dean & DeLuca into the next Whole Foods,” a source said of Techakraisri. “But in the process he lost focus on the core business — including keeping the store shelves stocked.”
Costly distractions have included a six-year sponsorship of the PGA Tour’s Fort Worth, Texas stop. Dean & DeLuca recently backed out of it, only two years into the contract.
Last year, the grocer signed a six-year deal to be a sponsor at the US Open, including signage at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The company says it is “100 percent committed” to that contract.
Nevertheless, Dean & DeLuca last fall hired restructuring firm Emerald Capital Advisors. In addition to pulling out of the PGA deal, the company recently closed four stores in Charlotte, NC, and Wichita, Kansas, where the storied grocer is headquartered now.
Last fall, Dean & DeLuca withdrew from three leases in Manhattan before the stores opened, The Post reported exclusively. Those included one near Grand Central Terminal where employees would be referred to as “cast members” delivering food with a theatrical flourish.
Plans for a swanky store in London got canceled as Dean & DeLuca was forced into a settlement with a landlord, sources said. Last month, a landlord in Charlotte kicked Dean & DeLuca out for not paying three months worth of rent, which amounted to $96,000. Other store closures occurred under the radar.
Dean & DeLuca president Laura Lendrum — who was hired last summer after a stint as president of Ralph Lauren — told The Post in a statement that the company is “renewing our focus on our New York City and Napa Valley flagship stores as well as our e-commerce business.”
It’s a painful reckoning for a grocer that, after opening its first store in Soho in 1977, earned the nickname “museum of fine food,” and claimed to be the first to sell radicchio, balsamic vinegar and sun-dried tomatoes in the US.
New York-based bakery Elenis claims it is owed $86,000 for the custom-designed cookies it shipped Dean & Deluca over the holiday period. After 15 years as a supplier, it hasn’t shipped them a cookie since December, says owner Eleni Gianopulos.
“They told me repeatedly that the funds would be in my account the next day or that the check was in the mail and I was never paid,” said Gianopulos, who sued Dean & Deluca last month. “As a small vendor it’s crushing.”