Peter Black
March 20, 2024
Local Journalism Initiative reporter
peterblack@qctonline.com
The Montcalm neighbourhood council is rallying residents to discuss the future of Provisions Inc., a popular grocery store on Ave. Cartier that closed suddenly under murky circumstances in January.
The Conseil de quartier de Montcalm has organized a meeting on March 25 to share information and gather opinions and suggestions regarding the fate of the store. It is to take place at 7 p.m. at the Centre culture et environnement Frédéric Back at 870 Avenue de Salaberry.
Meanwhile, the plot thickens as to what led the owners of the grocery, Stéphanie Guessas Bouillon and her husband Christophe Bouillon, to abruptly close and abandon the business they had acquired less than a year previous.
According to a Journal de Québec report, the couple, who came from Ardennes, France, rapidly found themselves in a perilous financial situation with the new business, a state of affairs worsened by health issues Guessas Bouillon was experiencing.
Le Journal contacted the lawyer for the couple who have since returned to France. Ahmen Harir said the Bouillons had closed the store “in extremis” due to Guessas Bouillon’s health problems as well as mounting financial difficulties.
Harir said the French couple were “scammed” by the store’s former owners. “The last six months have been a nightmare,” the lawyer told Le Journal. “She [Guessas Bouillon] was no longer sleeping, it was really catastrophic for them.… They had no other choice but to leave … They lost everything.”
In the same report, the former owners, cousins Vincent and Bruno Drouin, deny the couple’s allegations. The Drouins have sued the Bouillons for nearly $500,000 in Superior Court, the “balance of the sale price” established during the sale of the store in November 2022.
That lawsuit and other legal entanglements put in doubt a quick resolution to the future of the 70-year-old business, a popular spot, especially in summer when it becomes a miniature market for local produce.
The former owners have said they would be willing to help out any future buyer wanting to restart the business, but have ruled out reacquiring it.
Jonathan Tedeschi, president of the Montcalm neighbourhood council, told the QCT there are reports of people interested in buying the grocery.
He said the March 25 meeting will be an opportunity for “residents to come together to see what we can do.”
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Photo below
The Provisions Inc. grocery store on Avenue Cartier has been closed since January.
Photo by Peter Black from QCT archives