Facing serious financial challenges, the Guzzo group announced Monday afternoon the closure of two of its screening room complexes, the Méga-Plex Marché Central 18, in Montreal, presented by the company as its “iconic cinema », as well as the Méga-Plex Saint-Jean 12, inaugurated a little over three years ago in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. A third location, Cinéma Guzzo des Sources, in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, had already stopped showing films last November.
Reached by telephone, Vincenzo Guzzo, president of the Guzzo group, believes he can continue to show films in the seven other cinema complexes. Concerning the situation of the Méga-Plex du Marché Central, he claims to have realized that the owner no longer wanted to rent him the premises, which, he emphasizes, cost him around $250,000 in rent per month. month: “Do I have a pang in my heart [de devoir quitter le Marché Central] ? In truth, no. You know, when you deal with a property owner who, three times, tries to cancel the lease… When I was in Dragon’s Den [émission diffusée à CBC]I have often drawn a parallel between a partnership business and a wedding. I said I don’t need a business partner who gives me headaches like a bad marriage. When someone tries to take you to court three times in 14 months because they’re not happy that you were a day late on your rent payment, it’s time to get the message : they want a divorce. »
Last month, the Superior Court of Quebec placed the company in liquidation, ordering it to sell its assets to repay its creditors – including CIBC, which is demanding more than $38 million from it. The court, however, authorized the group to maintain control over activities in its cinemas during what the company presents as a “period of reorganization”.
Several “challenges”
According to The Montreal Journalthe Guzzo group owes more than $545,000 in unpaid rent to the owners of Marché Central, where the company operates 18 screening rooms; the media also reported that the company no longer had a rental agreement with the owners of the spaces occupied by the Méga-Plex Taschereau 18, in Greenfield Park. “In the case of Taschereau, I know the owners very well” who had asked them to cede certain spaces occupied by his complex. “We are negotiating. As long as we talk between businessmen, things seem to move forward, but as soon as lawyers get involved… things go backwards. »
-In a press release issued on December 23, the company assured that it wanted to “protect nearly 500 jobs” and “preserve the means of subsistence of our employees, who constitute the heart of Cinémas Guzzo”. Vincenzo Guzzo affirms that the closure of the two Mega-Plexes will result in the “temporary” layoff of around thirty employees, “especially part-time”.
The “extremely difficult” decision to close the Marché Central and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu complexes “is made necessary to ensure the sustainability of our family business, following the challenges imposed by the global health crisis of recent years”, can – we read in a press release issued Monday by the company founded in 1974 by entrepreneur Angelo Guzzo, now managed by his son.
“Aware of recent challenges and increased public attention, we remain determined to implement concrete measures to strengthen our financial stability and improve our services,” added representatives of the Guzzo group in their press release.
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