Slice of pie unlikely for creditors
Over-priced pies and high overheads may have put paid to Jesters in Palmerston North, after the store racked up more than $260,000 in debt.
Jesters on Main St is for sale after the pie shop went into liquidation two weeks ago.
Jesters Palmerston North owner Alan Jenkins said high overheads and new competition made life difficult, but the final straw came when sales dropped after the national franchise decided to hike pie prices, despite the franchisee’s objections.
‘‘We were the leading store for average daily sales of all the Jesters in New Zealand. But we, unfortunately, couldn’t meet daily expenses with what we were getting in.’’
Mckenzie and Partners liquidator Lyn Carey’s first report said the store was $262,000 in debt and unsecured creditors were unlikely to get a slice of the pie.
The bulk of the debt, $158,000, was owed to the Bank of New Zealand, and another $76,000 owed to Inland Revenue.
Carey said the shop was for sale, to cover as much of the debt as possible, but that wouldn’t reach to the $48,000 owed to the 21 known unsecured creditors.
Carey would make a decision next week on whether the pie shop would stay open up until a sale, but all four staff would receive their full holiday pay and final wages if the store shut.
Jenkins said Jesters was very popular with the late-night crowd, and it would be a shame if it left Palmerston North after nearly 15 years.
He’d been stuck with ‘‘astronomically high’’ rent since he took over in 2014, he said.
The Downtown Shopping Centre’s new food court, The Daily nightclub starting to offer food and two new cafes opening up nearby had all taken a bite out of his profits.
And Jenkins had also butted heads with Jesters’ national office, when it mandated a recent price hike that made his pies the most expensive in town, he said.
Jenkins said the national franchise conceded there had been a noticeable drop in sales at every Jesters after the price hike.
He said sales were starting to pick up again, after the initial price shock wore off, but it was too late for him.