JUICE HUGGER | A HEALTHY CRUSH CAFE

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In February 2015, with no warning, our landlord sold the building that Juice Hugger's A Healthy Crush Cafe has resided in for the last 4 years. It was sold to a construction company that will tear the building down to build a 5 story residential building in its place.

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Due to undocumented rental agreements by the other tenants in the building, in March, they were given 30 day eviction notices and were forced to leave. One older man from Haiti lived in the building for 17 years and another disabled woman lived here for 10; it was hard to see the hurt and disappointment in their eyes as they packed up to leave.

(Click picture to find out about our juice cleanses)

Juice Hugger LLC. has a rental agreement ending in July 2016. We intended to stay until the end of our lease since business is on the upswing. We are finally benefiting from a robust surge in cafe business as the community morphs into high end condos and franchises are deciding to give Crown Heights a chance.

When our new landlords heard our plans to stay out our term, they were angry. They want to build now. They decided to serve us an eviction notice claiming we didn't pay our rent on time and served the document to our employee while we were not at the cafe (which lead her to seek employment elsewhere).

They  neglected repairs to our boiler (so we installed a new one at our own cost); they impaired the electricity on one side of our cafe (ensuring that our bathroom had no light for months); they  sent numerous utility companies to our business telling them we are about to close so that they "turn off" our services; and they followed us home to intimidate us (leading us to file a police report). Their tactics are mean and calculated.

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Two weeks ago, we had our day in court. We won the bogus case against us! Thank you  Edward King, Esq. (our amazing Brooklyn lawyer). However, because of the stressful conditions that we have been under all year as well as not knowing if the building would hold up during the winter due to the lack of building repairs, we took a small settlement to leave the premises early. A Healthy Crush Cafe will open for the last time on Thursday,October 15th , 2015.

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It has been an amazing ride and we love everyone who has supported us. It has truly kept us going over the course of this difficult year. We can't count the amount of people that we have steered toward healthier eating...because there are so many. We are proud that we could make a difference in people's lives. Nothing could diminish our feeling of accomplishment.

(Click picture to view our menu)

It's weird having to say goodbye to our place when it is doing so well. But perhaps that is what the Universe has intended and its time to truly grow our brand . Reach higher.

Our intention is to get many of the products that people love manufactured and distributed - first to stores and shops around New York...and then nationally. We have a great local manufacturer and a distribution company who have both agreed to work with us to recreate and distribute our vegan cookies, black bean burgers and raw coconut drops. We are currently doing R&D to make sure these products come out exactly the way our customers know and love.

Juice Hugger Online will still be actively producing juice cleanses, batch juice orders and snacks. We will be working in a temporary kitchen for the time being as we try to locate something more permanent. We would like to find a kitchen to manufacture some of our other products for distribution like our vegan mac & cheese and healthy meal plans.

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We are asking for your help to aid us in keeping our company moving forward. We would love to stay in Crown Heights; our home for the last 6 years. We have a few potential options but not enough capital. Please help us to continue to offer healthy, low sodium, low carbohydrate options to our neighbors and friends. We want to continue to provide our community choices that help maintain a healthy life.

Don't let the little guys be defeated. #HugLife