Is The Closure Of Organic Avenue A Hard Lesson For Cold Pressed Juice Brands?

New York’s much loved cold pressed juice company Organic Avenue, a brand said to have pioneered the movement 15 years ago, shut down all of its 10 stores this week and filed for bankruptcy.

The closure doesn’t come as a complete shock after Organic Avenue was sold in August by investment company Weld North, to Vested Capital Partners for a cashless deal of stock options. The new owners gave staff 90 days to turn things around which sadly, did not happen.

When Weld North bought a minority stake in the company in 2012 before upping it to 70% the following year, the company was reportedly turning over $20 million annually and then-CEO Jonathan Grayer had plans to open 20 stores across the city. And yet according to Racked, by December 2014 it was ready to bail out.

It is no secret that the cold pressed juice market has become saturated over the last two years, dramatically affecting profits of many established brands. In order to compete, many have had to diversify into food and coffee and adopt HPP methods to extend shelf life. But perhaps the biggest downfall for Organic Avenue was selling a majority share of the business and entrepreneurial founder Denise Mari losing control.

After a tumultuous few years for the company, opening 4 new stores in 2013 only to close 2 the following year under a quick succession of CEO’s (including Martin Bates, former president of Pret A Manger), Organic Avenue will liquidate its $3.4 million in assets after filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.