Creme de la Creme bakery closes after just nine months
The Creme de la Creme business stands vacant with an eviction notice in the window (below). Menifee 24/7 photos: Doug Spoon Citing di...
http://www.menifee247.com/2017/12/creme-de-la-creme-bakery-closes-after-just-nine-months.html
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| The Creme de la Creme business stands vacant with an eviction notice in the window (below). Menifee 24/7 photos: Doug Spoon |
Citing disputes with the property management company and poor sales, the owner of Creme de la Creme bakery has closed his business only nine months after it opened in Town Center Marketplace on Haun Road.
Joe DiBenedetto said he was served with an eviction notice after failing to make rental payments and, after consulting with an attorney, decided to accept a default judgment against him in court. An eviction notice and "no trespassing" sign on the window of the vacant business listed a Dec. 3 date.
When told that several readers had inquired with Menifee 24/7 after stopping by to find the business closed, DiBenedetto said, "I wish they would've supported us before. With what we were making and what it was costing, we had to ask ourselves, 'Was it worth it?' "
DiBenedetto said other area Creme de la Creme bakeries, including shops in Temecula, Moreno Valley, Corona, Ontario and Riverside, average as much as $3,000 in sales per day.
Gina Gonzalez, economic development manager for the City of Menifee, said she was sorry to see the business leave Menifee.
"The City is sorry to hear about the closing of Crème de la Crème Bakery," Gonzalez wrote in an email to Menifee 24/7. "The City has a great relationship with our business community and partners with the Small Business Development Center, which also aims to assist businesses with difficult decisions and issues before choosing to close.
"The City has been working with the property owner to help fill the space with one of the many businesses waiting for a more central location within the City of Menifee."
They sucked. To expensive for what u got rude employees and the list goes on. Frozen and shipped in from the riverside store. Not enough selection. But the owner was rude and turn over in employees said something. I am glad they r gone. I feel a few more places will close their doors if they don't lower their prices. This town is not Los Angeles or riverside.
ReplyDeleteThis place is way to expensive for products made out of milk and sugar. Albertsons serves tastier treat for half the cost.
ReplyDeleteI get it about the prices but we should also realize that these small businesses are part of our growing community - and also important to remember that the CPI goes up every year (inflation), and that reflects in the things we buy every day. We can't always expect prices to be so low that businesses have to close down (*cough)
ReplyDeleteI think starting off your review by saying 'they sucked', then following up with 'they were rude' is an oxymoron - your comments could be construed as rude as well. Prices are high compared to Albertsons - guys come on apples and oranges. The reality is that small businesses like this are vital to our growing community and we should do our best to support and encourage their growth. I get it, it may not be what you're used to but again I think we should give them a chance before saying 'they suck' and 'they're too expensive because the local grocery store has a bakery too' - it's a French specialty pastry shop after all, it's not supposed to be cheap and what we're used to. I see a lot of demonizing of local businesses coming to Menifee to help our town evolve and I think its ridiculous - the city is growing whether people like it or not, we're evolving, we should keep an open mind and perhaps evolve with it is all I'm suggesting.
ReplyDeleteHmmm. Well it's a bad sign when the owner dismisses inquiries by saying "I wish they would've supported us before." I, for one, never heard of or saw this place until now. Perhaps some better marketing was in order. If they are really doing 6x more business in their other locations, clearly some major mismanagement was going on.
ReplyDeleteBut the biggest problem is the insanity of paying $7500 per month in rent for a small pastry shop. There is no way that can be sustained. There are plenty of locations in Menifee with rent at a fraction that price. Couple that with a decent marketing program and you might have something.
I agree, rent was way too high for this size of a shop. Also agree with your comments about their marketing - as I didn't know they were there either until on an early morning Mother's Day hunt for 'something' and stumbled into that place (windows were broken because over the weekend some upstanding citizen went haywire with a sligh shot on all the new businesses there). I thought their process were quite reasonable considering what they offered, but yes they really didn't do much to promote themselves. I guess they were relying on their name?? Either way, hopefully we get something good in there, like how about a small pub??
ReplyDelete