Joe Caputo & Sons closed a third grocery store Sunday, citing in a Facebook post “a large and unexpected financial burden” related to its expansion into former Dominick’s stores.
The Elk Grove Village store’s weekend closing followed the shutdown of locations in Northbrook and Arlington Heights last year. Meanwhile, a federal judge last week issued a temporary restraining order that froze the assets of Caputo & Sons and could mean the liquidation of company assets if a $3.6 million debt isn’t paid to a produce wholesaler.
A woman who wouldn’t identify herself answered the phone at the Caputo & Sons office in Palatine on Monday morning and said the company had no comment.
But a Facebook post on the company’s official page expressed regret at the failed expansion. “As you may imagine, with the enormous investments involved in expansion, the process has been a quite a challenge. We regret our plans for expansion didn’t work out as we had hoped, and we continue to cooperate with all parties involved in working toward a speedy resolution,” the post said.
Caputo & Sons’ stores in Des Plaines, Algonquin and Palatine “remain strong” and are still open for business, according to the post.
Last week, Anthony Marano Co., a Chicago-based produce wholesaler, sued Joe Caputo & Sons stores in Des Plaines, Palatine, Algonquin, Northbrook, Arlington Heights and Elk Grove Village, as well as Natale Caputo and Vito Caputo, for failing to pay for $3.6 million worth of produce sold and delivered since June 5, according to the complaint filed in federal court in Chicago.
The Caputo & Sons defendants “failed and refused to pay (Marano) for the wholesale quantities of produce supplied by (Marano), and have advised (Marano) they are unable to do so due to cash flow problems,” the complaint said.
The lawsuit also said there were other unpaid vendors in addition to Marano.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan ordered Joe Caputo & Sons to turn over a full accounting of the company’s liabilities and assets to Marano’s attorney if the debt isn’t paid within seven days.
The judge’s order also gave Marano the power to manage the “continued operation and/or liquidation” of Caputo & Sons stores in Des Plaines, Palatine, Algonquin, Northbrook, Arlington Heights and Elk Grove until the debt is paid in full.
Damon Marano, Marano’s vice president of business development, declined to comment.
Twitter @GregTrotterTrib
