Make & Take Gourmet to close store in Towne Center of Fayetteville
August 12th, 2008 | 
Author: Syracuse, NY — One of the two corporate stores in the Make & Take Gourmet meal-preparation chain is closing, its owners informed customers today.
The 2-year-old Make & Take Gourmet storefront kitchen in Towne Center at Fayetteville will shut down, leaving the founding store in Cicero and a handful of franchises still operating.
The reason for the change in their sunny outlook? Well, the same thing that is facing everyone else:
“We had good customers out there, just not enough of them. We just don’t have the business out there,” said Dave Bellso. “Plus, consumers habits have changed so much in the past three or four months. Summer months, too, are typically slow in this business. And expenses were way too high out there. We just couldn’t do it. We tried to negotiate, we had that lease, they wouldn’t change, so we can’t do it.”
I would have to think this is a stumbling block on achieving their 100 stores in a couple of years. But will this stop them from selling more franchises? Only time and common sense will tell. As Sean Kelly points out, their website certainly doesn’t indicate they have any intentions of stopping:
Thank you for your interest in a Make and Take Gourmet franchise. Meal
assembly kitchens are one of the hottest trends in the food industry…We are excited to share this exciting, proven concept with you as Make and
Take Gourmet grows. Become a franchisee and discover a fabulous opportunity to
be involved with a company that is focused on being the innovator and leader of
the meal assembly market.
Make & Take Gourmet to close store in Towne Center of Fayetteville
Other Articles of Interest:
- Where did all the meal assembly news go?
- Make & Take = Done & Gone = Dead & Buried
- Make & Take Gourmet Franchise Lawsuit: Failed Franchise Owners Allege Fraud
- New Hartford “Make & Take Gourmet,” to see change in name and services
- These times they are a changin
- Make & Take Gourmet, Bellso Serve Up Franchise Fraud To Go
- Time to check in on store closings
- Dollars & Sense: Make-and-take or grab-and-go
- Building out like a Starbucks
- The decline continues
Posted in 
How does a Meal Prep get out of a lease? Do they go bankrupt?
How do all these Meal Prep Kitchens go out of business….what happens to the commericial lease? Do you have to go bankrupt to protect yourself? Many of these commericial leases have you sign a personal guarantee? Any advice would help….my store is not doing so good….but I worry about the lease… I don’t have enough money….
It completely depends on your lease agreement.
In some cases you can sublet. Sometimes if you notify your landlord ahead of time to start looking for someone that will help. (Only if you have a good relationship with your landlord)
If you do not have a personal guarantee on the lease then you can put the lease into a business bankruptcy.
If you have a personal guarantee then I believe you have to file personal and business bankruptcy.
Some have been able to negotiate a “buy out” of the lease with the landlord too.
Any other suggestions out there?
I am almost 3 years into my 5 year lease right now, and I signed a personal guarantee with my lease.
I asked for a meeting with my leasing agent, about 2 months before I closed, told her that my business was up for sale, and bringing up the idea that I may have to close, and asked her if there was anything she could do to help me find a new tenant for my space. I told her that I was not planning to break my lease agreement, but I wanted to work with her to find a new tenant. Did she want me to advertise the space separately from the business for sale, or would she rather advertise it herself. I told her that any ideas would be very much appreciated. She gave me some names of brokers she works with, and she also immediately advertised the space, and had a party that was interested in it. I closed the end of May, and was out of the space the end of July, which is when she put a lock box on and sign in my window. The new tenant hasn’t signed a lease and I am not sure if they will, but they have not declined yet either.
Even when they sign a new tenant, my buyout is that I will be required to make the landlord “whole” which means I have to pay rent for the 90 days it takes them (the new tenant) to build out the space, and then a percentage of the tenant improvements that my landlord made on my space for me (depending on how early I am getting out of my lease). So, right now that would work out to be about $13,000.
My attorney says that the landlord is legally required to mitigate damages by actively looking for a new tenant. If they drag their feet, or refuse to do so, you should talk to your attorney. But I would approach them with a “partner in this” attitude at first.
Hope this helps.