The owner of a store in Vancouver that resells goods from U.S. chain Trader Joe’s appears to be packing it in after years of fighting to stay in business.
Pirate Joe’s made the announcement on their Facebook page Wednesday afternoon asking if anyone happens “to be a millionaire and have $50,000 available to donate to us to stand up to Trader Joe’s in federal court, please call…”
If there are no wealthy altruistic takers then the Vancouver store will be closing down for good at the end of the day.
In their Facebook post, they thank everyone “who has ever supported us. We are sad that it had to come to this, but hey, at least we had some fun while we were at it right?!”
“That’s it for us, we’ll no longer be selling Trader Joe’s products or be in business in any way,” Michael Hallatt, owner of Pirate Joe’s, told Global News. “You get in a lot of trouble for selling groceries. I had an epic legal battle to fight and it was just beyond me and the capacity of one guy.”
It’s been a bumpy road for Hallatt. Since the shop’s inception almost five years ago they’ve been facing push back from the giant U.S. grocery retailer.
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In 2013, Hallatt was slapped with a lawsuit saying he was infringing on their copyright. Hallatt fought back and won when a judge dismissed the case stating it did not apply to U.S. laws and since the alleged crimes happened in Canada, it doesn’t impact the U.S. economy.
WATCH MORE: BC business scores legal victory over Trader Joe’s
Following that lawsuit, Hallat changed their name to “_irate Joe’s.”
Interest in the story flourished after the San Francisco Chronicle picked it up and Hallat explained the lengths he went to to buy goods from Trader Joe’s.
Hallat said he would head south of the border (since Trader Joe’s does not operate in Canada) on shopping trips to Bellingham and further.
While he may have dodged a lawsuit in 2013, more recently Hallat was being taken back to court by Trader Joe’s in a trial set for November.
Hallat tried to fundraise money for the trial through, crowdsourcing, but came up short.
While he says it was pegged as a David and Goliath scenario, it was really just about Vancouver getting Trader Joe’s products.
“I love Trader Joe’s, I love what they’re doing… I just wanted a better way to get their stuff,” Hallatt told Global News. “Trader Joe’s has a right to protect their brand… and they have bigger, stronger lawyers than I do. We agreed to disagree and I’m closing the doors.”
Hallatt said it’s not a terrible ending.
“We’ve had a good run and I’m looking forward to the next project,” he said.
~ with files from Amy Judd