Bummer

[elizabear]

Prudential Center eatery Marche Movenpick abruptly closed
By Naomi Aoki, Globe Staff  |  October 20, 2004

Marche Movenpick, the upscale marketplace-cafe at the Prudential Center, abruptly shuttered its doors yesterday and is unlikely to reopen, leaving a big hole to fill in the Boston shopping complex.

Marche's Canadian parent, Richtree Inc., closed the Boston restaurant, the only one in the United States, as it sought bankruptcy court shelter from creditors. Richtree said the European-style eatery was losing money and that it could not afford to keep it open while attempting to financially restructure the company.

''We loved being in Boston, and it was a difficult decision," said Richtree's chief executive, Colin West. ''But while we're reorganizing, restructuring, and refinancing the company, we can't keep open an operation that's not profitable."

The closure took the lunchtime crowd by surprise and diners were met by locked gates. A bit stunned, they read letters from the corporate office apologizing for the inconvenience and explaining the company's financial situation. Inside the closed gate beside row upon row of fresh fruits, a security guard answered questions from dismayed diners as best he could.

Amy Daniels, spokeswoman for the Shops at Prudential Center, said management will resolve the terms of the lease with Richtree through the bankruptcy proceedings. Assuming the three-story restaurant does not reopen, an outcome that seems likely, she said, the Pru will seek another retailer or restaurant to fill the 36,000 square-foot space.

Daniels steered diners to the seven full-service restaurants such as Legal Sea Foods and the Cheesecake Factory and its 10 food-court eateries including the Qdoba Mexican Grill, Pizzeria Regina, and Paradise Bakery and Cafe. She said the Pru has been a successful environment for restaurants, noting that the Legal Sea Foods there is the busiest of the chain's locations.

On Monday, Richtree said it filed for protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, the Canadian equivalent of US bankruptcy court proceedings.

In the meantime, Richtree said, it will be business as usual at its Canadian locations, including three Marche restaurants similar to the one in Boston, six smaller Marchelino cafes, and one full-service restaurant.

Richtree opened the Boston Marche in late 1998, calling it ''the Disney World of food and beverage." At the time, the company expected the restaurant to attract 6,000 customers a day and generate $15 million in yearly sales. It had also hoped to open as many 10 US restaurants by now.

West, who said Richtree should emerge from the financial restructuring as a ''stronger, more profitable company," didn't rule out returning to the US market -- though Marche's Boston regulars won't likely see the restaurant re-open its doors any time soon.

''The Prudential Center Marche was too large a premise for the size of the operation," West said. ''But we haven't lost sight of the fact that concept works well in the United States."