MONTREAL— After 82 years in business, Restaurant et Taverne Magnan in Montreal, will close permanently Dec. 21, reports Montreal’s Gazette.
Founded in 1932, the restaurant was a male-only tavern until the 1980s. Owners of the 345-seat establishment, located in the Lachine Canal area, cited new condo developments and gentrification as reasons for the steady decline in business. “We invested to keep it going, thinking it would turn around with Griffintown, new developments, condos and other changes in the neighbourhood,” Alain Gauthier, president of the restaurant, is quoted as saying by The Gazette. “We thought there would be light at the end of the tunnel. It turned out to be a freight train coming at us.”
The sale of the building and surrounding land will pay off the mortgage, which financed renovations. The remaining profit is to be shared with the three shareholders of the restaurant. [montrealgazette.com]
