He wants to revive the Provisions grocery store

Barely had he arrived when Jean-François Picard was intercepted on the sidewalk by former Provisions customers. “It will definitely be a grocery store,” one of them asks the new owner of the building on Cartier Avenue.

“When will it open?” throws a second through the half-open door of the business.

The pressure is strong for this real estate investor, who has lived in the Saint-Jean-Baptiste district for three years. But he plans to take his time.

“I’m not promising a date. I also like that we take more time, that they take the time to settle in. We’re not going to rush into this,” he explains to Soleilnear the butcher’s counter.

Before Christmas is a reasonable deadline, he believes.

It must be said that the relaunch of the grocery store will not be in his hands. Mr. Picard admits: he has no knowledge of business management. He must entrust the mandate to landlords who have “strong backs”.

“We already have some interested parties. We want to find someone with whom it will work. Someone who knows this. This is not someone’s first grocery store,” he clarifies.

“It’s not a business that we start. This is what we bring back to life. You have to do it well.”

— Jean-François Picard, owner of the Picard Immobilier Group

The latter has every intention of making a gesture to the Drouin family, who operated this institution in the Montcalm district for nearly 75 years.

“We’re definitely going to ask them for advice. What is magic? And if they want to help, they have their place,” says the owner.

A guarantee of success

Asked whether any proposals other than a grocery store were submitted to him, Mr. Picard claims to have dismissed them straight away. “I could not accept, even if financially, these proposals were more profitable. They don’t would fit not with the neighborhood,” says the one who wants to listen to the needs of residents.

Street traders have offered him help to get the grocery store off the ground, while citizens have already raised their hands to come and work there.

“Everyone is committed to recovery. It’s really encouraging. […] It’s rare that you see a business where all the residents absolutely want it to be that,” he rejoices.

The enthusiasm he sees on a daily basis for Provisions is a guarantee of success, he anticipates. You still have to live up to expectations.

“If everyone is happy, it will work financially. It weighs in the balance. We still have a mortgage payment,” says the man who bought the building for $2.1 million, in addition to $100,000 for equipment.

“We want it to work and be sustainable. We wouldn’t want it to close in eight months,” he concludes.

THREE QUESTIONS FOR THE NEW OWNER

Q When did you make the decision to make an offer to acquire the building housing Provisions?

R Since it closed, we’ve been in the crosshairs. We want it, we want it. But it’s long clear a story of bankruptcy. […] I thought there was going to be some overbidding. He didn’t have that many. People made offers below the asking price.

Q As a customer of the small grocery store, what did you come to buy?

R Butchery, pastries, cheeses. You came to look for freshness here. It wasn’t cheap, but you want what happened from Île d’Orléans this morning.

Q Is the Provisions name here to stay?

R If it were my grocery store, I think I would keep it. I had ideas of adding 2.0. Or a completely new name with a twist. The neon sign is still beautiful.

THE SAGA IN FIVE DATES

• January 2024: The Provisions grocery store suddenly closes its doors.
• May: Stéphanie Guessas-Bouillon and Christophe Bouillon, who took over the reins of Provisions in November 2022, are ordered to pay $450,000 to their predecessors.
• July: The Superior Court of Quebec orders the sale of the building for the benefit of the National Bank of Canada, one of the main creditors.
• August: The building is put up for sale under judicial supervision.
• October: Jean-François Picard, who is behind the Picard Immobilier Group, takes possession of the building.