Giorgio DeLuca, a school teacher turned
cheese merchant, and Joel Dean, a publishing business manager, opened the first Dean & DeLuca in September 1977 in SoHo, an area in lower Manhattan, at the corner of Prince and Greene streets. In October 1988, a new flagship market was opened at the corner of
Broadway and Prince Streets. Smaller retail outlets followed in Manhattan's
Rockefeller Plaza and the
Paramount Hotel. Espresso bars were also located around New York and in Washington, DC. Dean & DeLuca at one time operated locations in
New York City;
Napa County, California;
Washington, D.C.;
Charlotte, North Carolina;
Leawood, Kansas;
Tokyo;
Seoul;
Bangkok;
Dubai;
Kuwait;
Bahrain;
Manila;
Taipei;
Singapore;
Kuala Lumpur; and
Macau. Dean & DeLuca uses a
license structure in foreign markets. Dean & DeLuca opened its first international location in Tokyo in 2003 with
Itochu Dean & Deluca Japan (currently 50 locations across Japan), followed by
MahaNakhon in
Bangkok in July 2011 and
Orchard Central in Singapore in June 2012. In 2007, they signed their second license agreement in the Middle East with
M.H. Alshaya Co. (five locations, including a flagship location in Kuwait City in 2009, one location in Doha, Qatar in May 2010, two locations in Dubai, and one location in Bahrain in 2017). In 2010, Dean & DeLuca signed additional license agreements with
Pace Development Thailand (three locations),
Shinsegae Korea (two locations), and Mekassa, Turkey. On July 11, 2019, Dean & DeLuca announced the closing of many of its U.S. locations, bringing the number of stores down to six. According to the company's CRO, the company ceased operating in mid 2019; the remaining stores are franchisees which paid the franchisor $1.5 million in royalties annually. On April 1, 2020, Dean & DeLuca filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors with liabilities of as much as $500 million and assets of no more than $50 million. Its owner, Thailand’s Pace Development Corp., defaulted on a total of 9.5 billion
Thai baht (about $315 million) of debt in 2019. The primary case is Dean & Deluca New York, Inc. which filed
Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Six affiliated companies also filed bankruptcy. Dean & DeLuca completed its financial restructuring on January 28, 2021.
Siam Commercial Bank acquired a 26.49 percent stake in the company in a
debt-for-equity deal. The company said that it was working to restart operations in the United States and around the world. ==References==