Lilihas Bakery in New York City, the bakery that sold the “Black Market Bakery” to Whole Foods for $1 billion, is closing its doors after owner Lilihema Houser said she cannot sell the bakery’s products anymore.
“I feel that the time has come to close down the business, because I cannot sell anymore,” Housers said in a statement.
“We are no longer able to fulfill our mission and we cannot continue to support the community that we love.”
Housers’ company, Lilihiya, was founded in 2011 and is a “foodie bar” where customers can eat and drink food produced locally by the family.
She said the bakery had sold about 5 million breads, cookies and pastries since the company started.
But in December, she said she lost her contract to manage the bakery, and she now has to make do with what she has, Houshers said.
The bakery had also sold “whole foods” products, including bakery goods, ice cream, candy, bakery-baked goods and cookies, Houlihan said.
Her decision to sell was prompted by Whole Foods’ decision to discontinue selling Whole Foods products in the United States, she added.
Houser had said she hoped to continue selling products through her business through its various partnerships and other outlets, including through a brick-and-mortar location in New Jersey.
She did not name those outlets.
Houlihans’ decision comes less than a month after Whole Foods, which had already sold the bakery to Housher for $250 million, closed the deal.
The sale is the latest development in a dispute between the two companies, which were embroiled in a bitter and protracted court battle over the past two years.
The dispute was centered on the ownership of Houlis bakery.
In December, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that Whole Foods had the right to sell the company’s breads.
In its ruling, the court said the Bakery’s business was “the primary function of Housercos bakery, not its owners.”
Houlis, who was in court to argue the case, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
But her lawyers have said that the bakery has been run by Housier since 2013, when she bought it and turned it into a business.
Houers’ lawyer, John Cogan, said Houlichas business is “at the core of the company.”
“Liliha Houlias bakery is in good hands and she will continue to serve and serve her customers,” Cogan said.
