Presumably they have existing lease obligations at most or all of their locations. Not sure how they can plausibly walk away and expect to not pay, while also not filing bankruptcy.
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Most restaurants are owned by limited liability companies.
For reasons that are unclear to me, I find the closing of SLJ’s to be deeply engrossing and have been reading reddit threads about the issue.
Not only did they not inform their employees ahead of time, but apparently they never contacted customers who had placed orders to be picked up in the new year… There was also apparently an on-going lawsuit, but I can’t find much about details on that.
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Wow those are big red flags, please do report back!
None of this surprises me. It was many years ago, but there were numerous Chowhound threads discussing their terrible customer service, going right to the top of management. I’ve never been there myself, but based upon those stories, I wouldn’t have spent a nickel in the place. I’m just amazed they lasted as long as they did.
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Where did you get that? I can’t find anything about it except Reddit speculation.
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I’m on 2/3rds of the way down the thread (gotta complete work, too!):
https://www.reddit.com/r/LosAngeles/comments/18wbyqr/sweet_lady_jane_is_now_permanently_closed/
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So apparently employees weren’t notified b/f the public b/c some found out via social media (just like we did). And some employees had left their personal belongings behind b/c they weren’t expecting a closure.
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The Santa Monica landlord might have been blindsided by the closure.
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The “founder and owner” (Ashley Leibowitz) shares a name w/ a race-horse doper (unclear if they are the same person).
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“Angie” from the LA Times is working on an article and is asking for anyone w/ info to let her know.
In another reddit thread, someone said that their triple berry cake had a Porto’s sticker on it. No idea how truthful that is…
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Porto’s has only been selling their milk & berries cake via online for about 2-3 years.
In store, it sits on a platter because the cake layers are soaked a la tres leches style.
I’m certain it’s entirely different from SLJ.
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Terrible article and honestly shit journalism on the LA times part. Attempting to link a wage and hour lawsuit filed by a 2 month employee 6 months as a basis of their closing is hilariously stupid.
Anyone can file a class action lawsuit in CA. But getting it certified is another issue. There’s no evidence anything was certified here. But basically every wage and hour case brought against larger employers is always filed as class action to potential finally maximize attorney fees and/or score employers into settling.
Any employer as large as Sweet Jane is bound to have at least one wage and hour case a year.
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Does California have a “state alternative to bankruptcy”?
That’s what I was wondering, too.
Also, the article mentions that “companies” (plural) own Sweet Lady Jane. Does anyone know which entities?
Per the article, Sweet Lady Jane LLC and SLJ Wholesale LLC.
I had read something similar on one of the reddit threads.
Hopefully, the LA Times will take the time to follow up and do whatever research is needed for a more thorough repport…
I doubt it. I used to really respect the LA Times but those days are long gone. Just to be clear, it has nothing to do with being anti journalism/media/etc. I’m a vehement supporter of local newspapers. It’s that the norm for the paper has become surface level “journalism”; there’s a glaring lack of investigative reporting. It’s a sad excuse for the paper of record in a city as large and influential as LA. I hope they can turn it around one day. I had high hopes when the current owner bought it, but he has been a sore disappointment.
Also, I’ve sent in very clear factual corrections on several articles over the past few years. The support for why the errors were errors, and my corrections were correct, was ironclad each time. Not only did the LA Times fail to issue a correction each time, they didn’t bother to respond to me whatsoever.
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“The abrupt closure of all stores left some customers — among those who sought out the bakery’s beloved Triple Berry Cake and other desserts were Taylor Swift, Blake Lively and Sophia Bush — scratching their heads.”
love the thought of these three scratching their heads over this
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I wonder if the wholesale operation might still be going?
https://shop.heinzcatering.berkeleybowl.com/product/89417900199
Another lawsuit, maybe by investors:
Something fishy here.
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I’m not normally one to wish ill will on an eatery, but that’s just gross. I am also not normally a fan of social media, but I’m glad a lot of the IG comments have been calling them out on their fishy sh*t. Their communication has been so disingenuous that I hope people boycott the place. 
Unrelated: I liked the blurb at the end of the Eater LA article about the Burmese restaurant in MP. 
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