Mövenpick Marché returning to Brookfield Place
http://www.tasteto.com/2010/01/18/t...onto-bumping-richtree-from-flagship-location/
TasteTO has learned that Mövenpick Marché, the popular market-style restaurant chain, will be returning to Toronto after a six year absence. More notably, Marché will be taking over its former flagship location from Richtree Market, the company formed out of the legal battle that led Mövenpick leaving the Canadian marketplace.
Both the Heritage Square and Concourse Level outlets of Richtree in Brookfield Place (formerly BCE Place) will be closing this coming Sunday, January 24th to make way for Mövenpick's return.
The Mövenpick Marché location was first opened in 1992 by Jorg and Marian Reichert, a couple who had worked with Mövenpick on other projects for a decade prior. The Reicherts formed Richtree Inc. in 1996 and acquired exclusive rights to the Mövenpick brand and concept in North America, but subsequent legal disputes resulted in them leaving the company in 2004. The disputes also led to the franchise deal being discontinued, and the restructured company rebranded all Mövenpick locations in North America to Richtree Market.
According to a story in the Toronto Star last March, Mövenpick intends to open at least 10 locations in the Toronto area under a variety of brand concepts including Marché, Bistro, Natural Bakery and Marchelino. All locations will be managed by Marché International, a subsidiary of the Mövenpick Group.
The closure of the Brookfield Place locations has no effect on the rest of the Richtree Market chain, all of which will remain open, including the newest location at Promenade Shopping Centre in Thornhill.