Gary, Wally Ganzi's cousin, had inherited his stake in the original Palm from his father, one of the co-founder's sons and the restaurant's longtime accountant. Her ruling means they must repay the restaurant business approximately $120 million, including $71 million in past royalties, $1.7 million in lost rent plus interest and legal fees, said the siblings’ attorney Fred Newman. These Coveted $400 Hairy Crabs Are Selling Out in China. Its fate could be decided as soon as late March. The Chef Who Helped Transform Southern Food Has Left the Restaurants That Made Him Famous, One of the South’s Best Restaurants Will Pop Up in New York City, These 5 Cookware Startups Are Selling Premium Pans at a Fraction of the Cost. Subscribe today & save up to 70%! In the mid-1960s The Palm was deeply in debt to its butcher and "appeared unlikely to survive," Ganzi testified. Please fill out this field with valid email address. Who is considered essential in New York state? So Who Is Bruce Bozzi? In March, Just One More Restaurant Corp., the Naples-based company that owns and licenses the use of the Palm name, trademarks and other intellectual property for the legendary restaurant, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. As family feuds go, it’s not Succession. Subscribe Today at Huge Savings! Proceeds would be used by direct descendants of the luxury brand’s founders to pay certain of their cousins the $120 million they were awarded in an earlier lawsuit involving licensing fees. Information about your device and internet connection, including your IP address, Browsing and search activity while using Verizon Media websites and apps. 50 Cent, Hip-Hop’s Greatest Showman, On The Legacy He’s Leaving Behind For His Son. 85,674, This story has been shared 76,089 times. "The Palm posted another entry on Facebook today priding itself on being a family-owned business and showing how wonderful it is that now the 4th generation is becoming so involved," one relative emailed another in 2012. "They refused to communicate at all before we began to make demands," Gary Ganzi testified, adding that Wally Ganzi "threatened to somehow put me in jail" for exercising rights as a shareholder in the original Palm, which closed in 2015, ostensibly for renovations, but never reopened. “The Palm is iconic, and the court found that the correct and proper way to license valuable intellectual property is to use the percentage of sales methodology,” said Newman. Wally Ganzi and Bozzi didn't want to hear from some grumbling minority investors. They are the ones who, since 1972, have licensed the rights to more than 20 Palms around the country, including three in Manhattan and an LA location that’s a celebrity power lunch hot spot. As family feuds go, it’s not Succession. Sitemap Jean-Georges Just Opened Two New Restaurants in NYC. Italian immigrants Pio Bozzi and John Ganzi opened La Parma restaurant at Second Avenue and 45th Street in Manhattan in 1926. The food is "first-rate," the critics said, so long as you "stick to the original script of salad and tangy, prime-rated beef, or salad and huge, perfectly acceptable lobster, along with potatoes and greens.". Bruce's grandfather Pio Bozzi helped found The Palm restaurant in New York City back in 1926 and for the past 35 years, Bruce has carried on his family's legacy by … The partners insisted members of their families were fine with the flat-rate royalty arrangement at the time it was created. Late Tuesday, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Andrea Masley released a ruling finding that the partners cheated the siblings out of millions of dollars in royalties over 40 years by paying them an annual $6,000 licensing fee for each restaurant instead of a percentage of sales. They argued that Wally Ganzi's and Bozzi's failed restaurants were proof they needed the Palm brand to succeed, and it was only fair that all shareholders benefit. Their Florida residences are safe from the prying hands of creditors, but they could be forced to sell their Long Island and Maryland vacation homes to pay their obligations. The two decided instead to develop the Palm brand, even though business there wasn't exactly thriving. Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe. The bankruptcy filing came just before the two parties were due back in court. For that, they’d been receiving a flat annual fee of $6,000 for each of the franchises, rather than a cut of revenue. July 25, 2012. by Renee Lucas. Defendants Walter "Wally" Ganzi Jr. and Bruce Bozzi Sr., two grandsons of the founders and the ones responsible for turning The Palm into a national phenomenon, responded by putting the restaurant into bankruptcy. Which is a good thing to say if you’re in Chapter 11, but maybe not if you’re trying to get a $120 million judgment lowered. Photo: courtesy Richard Drew/AP/Shutterstock, The 6 Food Festivals Worth Traveling to This Summer. In 1970 an accounting firm concluded the restaurant had been "grossly mismanaged" with a "rather considerable vacuum at the management level" and spared from bankruptcy only because it paid low rent, thanks to the founders' purchase of the restaurant's building. "Not only are there third-generation waiters, but there are third-generation customers too.". As the Palm franchise expanded, the children and grandchildren of the founders who held a 20% stake in the original Palm were paid a flat annual fee to license the name, decor and logo, amounting to $6,000 per new restaurant. But the parent company of the clubby, caricature-heavy Palm steakhouse and Italian restaurant is now in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, all because of a lawsuit between family members generations removed from the founders. He Is Part Of Palm Restaurant And Is Married To Bryan Lourd, The Father Of Billie Lourd And Carrie Fisher's Ex. The supper club Bruce's Pussycat quickly faded into history. His family co-founded the Palm restaurant. Ganzi and Breen were part owners of the original Palm that closed in 2015, and in the 1970s, Ganzi Jr. and Bozzi Sr. created a separate company that owned all … That fee amount “grossly favored” the partners by depriving the siblings the “fair market value” for The Palm’s intellectual property — including the iconic cartoons that cover the restaurants’ walls and were originally accepted in lieu of payment for meals by struggling artists, the judge said. The filings — made in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Middle District of Florida in Fort Myers — came after a state court judge in Manhattan sided with Gary Ganzi and sister Claire Breen, who claimed their cousins had c… Today The Palm has approximately 30 locations in cities throughout the United States as well as locations in Puerto Rico and Mexico. During the next four decades Ganzi and Bozzi opened about two dozen Palm steakhouses, including Palm Too, across the street from the original, and kept the profits for themselves. The best of everything is waiting for you! In 2018, after a trial in Manhattan, a New York state judge awarded the plaintiffs $120 million. Haute Dining with Bruce Bozzi Jr. of The Palm. Justice Masley called the lowball payments “a textbook example of fiduciary misconduct” by the partners. “We are having a good year,” executive vice president Bruce Bozzi Jr. —a fourth-generation family member—told Lisa Fickenscher of the New York Post. Its parent company, Just One More Restaurant Corp., is now run by Bruce Bozzi Sr. and Walter Ganzi Jr., third-generation descendants of Pio and John. The question now is, what will happen to Palm Too and the nearly two dozen remaining Palm restaurants? Staying current is easy with Crain's New York news delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge. Your Ad Choices Save up to 70% off the cover price and get free digital access. Here’s What You Need to Know. That was an extremely low fee. His clients are due about $20 million of that award. 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A Ganzi family member is understood to be preparing a bid, but it's expected an outside party will buy the restaurant. 76,089, © 2020 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved Gary Ganzi, Breen and another cousin sued Wally Ganzi and Bozzi for breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment and self-dealing. Wally Ganzi, the grandson of John Ganzi, and Bruce Bozzi, grandson of Pio Bozzi, are third generation members of the family to operate The Palm, which has expanded into an international restaurant chain. About 10 years ago, shareholder and patent attorney Gary Ganzi started asking questions. Plus, get a free tote bag! (212) 210-0100, Eleven Madison Park, one of the world’s best restaurants, will reopen after all, Hot dogs, like crowds, might be missing from Labor Day, NY startup giving coffee roasters a lifeline during pandemic, Sponsored Content: How Empire BlueCross BlueShield’s ‘Whole Health’ Mission Informed Its Response to COVID-19. The steakhouse — known for its caricature-covered walls — has become a national chain since opening here in 1926, and years ago, two grandkids of founders Pio Bozzi and John Ganzi sued their cousin and his business partner for locking them out of proper profits. Both have filed for personal bankruptcy protection too. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. For that, they’d been receiving a flat annual fee of $6,000 for each of the franchises, rather than a cut of revenue. We've received your submission. 685 Third Avenue A related company, Just One More Holding Corp., also filed for bankruptcy. The original Palm, at 2nd Avenue and 45th Street, closed in 2015. "Great steak," food critic Gael Greene warbled, "and the best hashed browns I've ever tasted anywhere.". The original Palm, at 2nd Avenue and 45th Street, closed in 2015. Among the co-owners of that location were Garry Ganzi and his sister Claire Breen and the late Charles Cook, three more of John Ganzi’s grandchildren. Here’s Why. We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. "They never seem to post about how they fucked over the 3rd generation.".
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