Organic Avenue Is Closing All Its Stores

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It looks like the end of the line for Organic Avenue, the NYC-based juice chain that Racked reported in August was bought by its new owners for basically nothing. All locations of the 15-year-old company will be closed at the end of business today, Eater NY reports.

Eater's source says that employees found out about the closure just last night, and an employee at the Lexington Avenue location told Eater that the reasons for the closure are "money wise."

Organic Avenue struggled with poor location choices, but most of Organic Avenue’s losses came from food waste, Racked reported. In January 2015, reportedly the juice chain's worst month, Organic Avenue lost $1 million. Only three of its ten locations were turning a profit, according to Racked's sources. That led Weld North, Organic Avenue's owner, to sell the company to investment firm Vested Capital Partners in a cashless deal of stock options, and Organic Avenue’s CEO Anthony Tomaro, was let go in an attempt to cut costs.

"A lot of mistakes are being made in the juice industry right now, and Organic Avenue is a prime example," an anonymous juice industry insider told Racked in July. "It first started with them expanding too quickly, then it turned into a healthy fast-food thing, and then they became just another Pret a Manger. It's what money people don't understand: You can't dilute the brand to appeal to everyone. Hain Celestial had the same thing when it bought BluePrint—it might be selling well at Whole Foods, but it's not being bought anywhere else."