Boisson has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and shuttered its eight brick-and-mortar stores, according to multiple media reports and a LinkedIn blog post by Boisson founder Nicholas Bodkins. The non-alcoholic (NA) beverage brand plans to continue operating as a wholesaler and a DTC ecommerce retailer. Boisson had taken a “neighborhood stores” approach to brick-and-mortar expansion, opening stores in NYC, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami.
“Boisson’s Board of Directors has determined that entering into a restructuring process for the company to shift its operational focus is in the best interests of its creditors and other stakeholders,” Bodkins wrote. “This and other difficult decisions have been made, including the decision to close all retail locations. While this is certainly disappointing, taking these actions will allow the company the opportunity to put forth a restructuring plan aimed to focus on the wholesale distribution and ecommerce divisions, which continue to operate, accepting and fulfilling orders without interruption.”
Bodkins took pains to stress that Boisson’s setback is not a failure for the NA category at large. “No one should consider this anything other than what it is: a failed venture-backed startup that grew too quickly, made mistakes, and wasn’t able to find capital fast enough to continue to build three businesses at the same time (bricks-and-mortar retail, ecommerce, and wholesale import/distribution), which in hindsight, proved to be impossibly hard to execute,” he wrote.
“I am proud that we served more than 250,000 customers, of the deep and meaningful wholesale partners who embraced NA for their customers, and proud of the awareness and education we brought to consumers, introducing them to NA through partnerships we forged with brands and communities,” Bodkins added.
Detailed information about Boisson’s restructuring plans was not available at press time.
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