Toronto's GarfieldEATS closes its storefront due to overdue rent
GarfieldEATS is no more, at least in the city. Toronto’s storefront has permanently closed down its shop and is up for sale.
Having opened back in 2019, the Garfield-themed joint caught the eyes of many with its Garfield shaped pizza heads.
What started with an app, turned into a storefront at 995 Bloor Street West, by Dovercourt Road.
Now the nostalgic cartoon-themed restaurant bares a ‘For Sale’ sign, one of which many Toronto restaurants have hung up in the last few months.
Karen Doradea
Singing a similar tune, GarfieldEATS CEO Nathen Mazri shared the financial difficulty the company faced when it came to rent owed throughout the pandemic.
“We have always paid the rent and ready to disclose bank statement and proof of transfers made to the landlord since the lockdown in March 2020, but he wanted more, more, & more. He is simply greedy after we updated his entire filthy building,” said Mazri in a news release.
“No landlord can take that away from us. It is sad to see restaurants closing but we live in an era of shifting economies and transition from an information era to an interconnected society driven by tech. We must embrace it as landlords still live in the past.”
Mazri states that their landlord allegedly didn’t apply for COVID-19 rent relief as it “looks bad to apply” for the program on his file.
“The landlord has always disagreed continuing with the threats to lock us out and he still demanded full rent. GarfieldEATS has paid full rent in March 2020 and April 2020 as well as May 2020 as agreed, until he locked us out illegitimately finally for the June 2020 full rent without any relief again,” said Mazri.
Many Toronto restaurants have faced the same fate in the past few months as the pandemic has garnered significant financial loss, causing the closures of hundreds of restaurants since lockdowns.
Though not all is lost. GarfieldEATS still plans to operate through its online portal and orders can be made for the Garfield-themed dishes.
As for a storefront, they still hold hope for the future and a bigger location for the franchise.
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