If you have ever been to Lula’s Sweet Apothecary in East Village, you might be saddened to know there is a chance it will close, all due to a New York divorce that happened last year. The vegan dessert shop is owned by Manhattan residents Blythe Boyd and Derek Hackett. The two were married when they opened the shop in 2008, but their 2012 divorce may lead to its demise.
When the former couple opened the shop, they owned it equally, and they both worked hard to keep it running. In fact, Lula’s Sweet Apothecary has had plenty of celebrity visitors over the years, and is well-known in this area. But not long after the couple’s divorce, Derek went to court in Manhattan to request that the shop be closed, accusing his ex-wife of pushing him out of the business and running it into the ground.
Derek has said that Blythe refuses to let him have anything to do with the business he still partly owns. He accuses her of not keeping the shop open long enough each day to make much of a profit, which has pushed him toward bankruptcy. Considering that she will not let him help with the business, his goal is to dissolve it so his finances are no longer affected by the apparently failing dessert shop. In addition, he has claimed his ex-wife has been keeping any profits she makes.
Of course, there are two sides to every story. For her part, Blythe claims she has been doing all the work anyway, which is why she no longer wants Derek involved to share the profits. She has been a vegan for years and asserts the shop was her idea to begin with, so she should continue to run it and benefit from it. Hurricane Sandy damaged the property in the fall, and since then, Blythe claims she has had too much work to do on her own to keep the shop open its regular hours.
Some couples are able to continue running a business together after getting divorced, but it can be a difficult task that Blythe and Derek do not appear ready to take on. When you own a business with a spouse and then get divorced, you have a few options, one of which is closing or selling the business and splitting the money. This seems to be the one Derek is pushing for. Though it might upset longtime fans of the vegan dessert shop, this decision may help the couple move on from their divorce quicker.
If you own a business with your spouse and are contemplating divorce, you will need advice from an experienced New York divorce lawyer. Call Brian D. Perskin & Associates P.C. for help from a legal staff that has been advising local couples for years. We have helped many business-minded clients get the outcome they desired when divorcing a spouse and trying to do the right thing for their company.