The pneumatic tube-powered Roasting Plant coffee shop on State St. closed its doors at the end of March. The closure came five months after Michigan franchisee Mike Shehadi’s million-dollar lawsuit against the NYC-based Roasting Plant, Inc., was dismissed in US District Court. Shehadi, who also had a Roasting Plant in Dearborn Heights, claimed that he’d been misled about the profitability of the business.
The case was dismissed because Shehadi’s franchise contract contained an agreement to resolve disputes through arbitration. It’s unclear if arbitration took place, but by April both of his stores were closed. Roasting Plant’s chief sales and marketing officer, Thomas Hartocollis, declined to comment on the closings.
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