Latest news with #Pusateri
Boston Globe
24-06-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
In Leominster, Pastaland is as magical as it sounds
Co-owner Vinny Pusateri shows off some of Pastaland's wares. Jane Dornbusch Get Winter Soup Club A six-week series featuring soup recipes and cozy vibes, plus side dishes and toppings, to get us all through the winter. Enter Email Sign Up Pastaland's early history isn't well documented, but Pusateri guesses the original shop opened around 1974, in a different Leominster location. Pusateri, whose father worked in nearby Fitchburg, says he recalls visiting Pastaland as a child. 'I was raised on it, as were many in the area,' he says. 'It was a staple.' When that location closed, he figured the store had disappeared, but he later rediscovered it on Route 117, in a spot he correctly describes as 'not very visible.' It was under different ownership, but the proprietors, Stephen and Darlene Aubuchon, had learned from the founder, and everything was just as Pusateri remembered it. Advertisement Then one day, as Pusateri was getting his cheese ravioli fix, Stephen Aubuchon mentioned that he was retiring and selling the shop. One thing led to another, and today, Pastaland is owned by Pusateri and a longtime employee and partner, Ashley Bail. One of the vintage pasta-making machines imported from Argentina some 50 years ago. Jane Dornbusch Bail and her mother, Lynette Harris, do nearly all the hands-on work of making the pasta, meatballs, and sauces, with some help from students in a culinary arts program at Leominster High School. The process starts with preparing a dough Bail refers to as the 'crumble,' because it's, well, crumbly. Pusateri won't reveal what's in the proprietary mix of four flours — 'the blend and ratio is the trick,' he says — but he is willing to share that the dough contains just a bit of carrot, for sweetness. Depending on what kind of pasta is being made, it may next be rolled, extruded, stuffed, or cut. It is prepared fresh daily, and regulars know that if they hope to get a meatball, they'd better visit on a Tuesday. 'I make 20 pounds on Tuesday morning, and they can be gone by Tuesday afternoon,' says Bail. Most popular are the small cheese ravioli, but the larger 'gourmet' ravioli, stuffed with spinach or pumpkin or mushrooms, also have their fans. The light, tender ravioli are worth every carb, but the spaghetti and gemelli, with their distinctive, almost bouncy chew, serve to demonstrate how and why the best pasta transcends its simple formula. Visitors to the shop can witness the whole process taking place behind the counter; the small manufacturing area is open to view. In fact, says Pusateri, although Pastaland is a retail shop (with a few local wholesale accounts), it is licensed as a food manufacturing business. That suits Pusateri and Bail just fine, because making outstanding pasta is the mission. Advertisement 'We do get lots of great ideas, like add this or that, or become more of an Italian grocer,' says Pusateri. 'But instead, we have focused on keeping it very basic. This is how it's worked, all these years: We do one thing, and we do it well.' Pastaland, 557 Lancaster St., Leominster, 978-534-9400. Ashley Bail (left) and her mother, Lynette Harris (right), show off the popular cheese ravioli. The two prepare nearly everything sold at Pastaland. Jane Dornbusch
Globe and Mail
03-06-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Vertical integration changes the real estate game
When Pusateri's Fine Foods cancelled its lease at 899 College St., after filing for bankruptcy just days before its grand opening, Loblaw Cos. Ltd. jumped at the chance to occupy prime real estate on the western edge of Toronto's Little Italy. At 15,000 square feet, the commercial property – owned by Toronto-based Clifton Blake Group – was ideal for a small-format No Frills, a new concept that Loblaw began rolling out last year to deliver discounted groceries in a leaner layout. But there was a catch. Loblaw wanted to hit the ground running with a refit. That gave Clifton Blake a 24-hour window to study Loblaw's blueprints and begin customizing the space for the new tenant on a compressed deadline. Most real estate companies don't have the agility to turn on a dime like that – even when a long-term lease with a triple-A tenant is at stake. For Clifton Blake – a developer and private real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in boutique, purpose-built rental mid-rises anchored by street-level commercial property – adapting to changing circumstances quickly and delivering timely design solutions is a core strength. 'Back at the office, we huddled with our in-house construction team and Navy SEALed the situation within hours,' says Wes Myles, president and chief investment officer at Clifton Blake, whose other commercial tenants include Shoppers Drug Mart, LCBO and WeWork. 'If you're not able to tailor solutions rapidly for prospective tenants with a demanding schedule and significant dollars at play, they will usually vote with their feet and walk.' The reason Clifton Blake says it was able to 'Navy SEAL' the Loblaw situation so handily is because it has taken the vertical integration of its operations to the next level by combining property development and construction. Unlike many of its competitors, which rely on independent construction companies, Clifton Blake maintains full control over its developments, eliminating the need to co-ordinate with multiple subcontractors that may be juggling several construction jobs at the same time, says Mr. Myles. Clifton Blake's REIT has nearly $1.6-billion in assets either under management or in the pipeline, with 1,500 rental suites and more than 300,000 square feet of retail and commercial space outside Toronto's downtown core. Vertical integration has allowed it to achieve fast and flexible delivery of real-estate projects. It has also improved quality control and profit margins through reduced labour and financing costs that come with a shorter construction cycle. For Clifton Blake, the last piece of the puzzle fell into place a year ago, when it partnered with Toronto's Wilkinson Construction to create a new division called CB Wilkinson – a fully integrated real estate company with crews of carpenters, drywallers and framers. 'Having direct control over the entire process ensures a shared vision trickles down from the boardroom all the way to the foreman and trades working on the ground,' says Mr. Myles, who is also CEO of CB Wilkinson. Many developers claim to be vertically integrated, but few – apart from industry giants such as Great Gulf and Tridel Group of Cos. – have the capability to tweak floor plans and make design changes without costly delays and budget overruns while construction is under way, says Mr. Myles. 'Mobilizing and demobilizing is a big cost that's normally controlled by subcontractors and they will nail you on charges if you need to pivot,' says Mr. Myles, who points to miscommunication as a major reason why projects are either pushed over budget or held up. Despite the need for last-minute changes, neither of those scenarios happened during the initial refit of Pusateri's at 899 College St. To make the space workable, CB Wilkinson customized a number of elements that have been retained by Loblaw's No Frills, including a loading dock at the side of the building to minimize disruption to residential tenants. 'In recent years, rising material and labour costs have strained relations in the construction industry,' says Jeff Wilkinson, president of CB Wilkinson, whose father started Wilkinson Construction in the 1960s. 'Having the developer and construction manager on the same team is a huge help in keeping those costs from spinning out of control.' Another advantage of vertical integration is that the developer gets reliable construction budgeting and scheduling information from day one of property acquisition. 'Most developers don't get that kind of feedback until they begin drawing up detailed plans,' Mr. Wilkinson adds. When completed later this year, Clifton Blake's Pacific Residences – a cubist-inspired, mixed-use mid-rise situated in Toronto's Junction neighbourhood – will have three commercial tenants and 120 purpose-built rental suites, partially framed by a heritage façade that's more than 100 years old. The fit-out posed a number of challenges, with BMO requiring vault-like security and Starbucks asking for an unexpected boost in electrical power. But a trickier problem was creating seamless access from the street to the second floor for a third commercial tenant in the health and fitness business. The solution was to alter the building's design midstream by adding small retail frontage at street level with decorative stairs next to an elevator. 'On a typical condo project, you don't even talk about retail until it's almost finished,' says Mr. Wilkinson, noting his company's customization always happens in tandem with the residential build and requires the management of many moving pieces. 'As long-term owners, delivering a complete building that fits into a community is always a priority,' Mr. Myles says. 'The goal is street activation to get people out walking and biking.' He expects to shave as much as 12 weeks from what would otherwise be a construction schedule of about 128 weeks for Pacific Residences, thanks to the benefits that come from vertical integration. The associated cost savings of 10 per cent to 15 per cent will partly be passed on to commercial tenants. A potential downside of integration is carrying idle crews in a slower market, but for CB Wilkinson, having total control of an asset under development far outweighs that consideration. 'Most developers have depth not breadth,' Mr. Myles says. 'We have both, which is especially important for mixed-use projects where you're dealing with an eclectic blend of end users.'
NBC News
16-04-2025
- Business
- NBC News
JPMorgan Chase sues more customers who allegedly stole cash in 'infinite money glitch'
JPMorgan Chase this week began suing more customers it has accused of stealing funds from the nation's largest bank in last year's so-called infinite money glitch. The bank is now going after customers who allegedly stole amounts below $75,000, which means it is filing complaints in state courts, instead of the federal venues it chose last year, according to a person with knowledge of the company's deliberations. The glitch, which went viral in late August in videos posted to social media, allowed customers to withdraw the entire value of a fraudulent check before it bounced. ″ On August 29, 2024, a masked man deposited a check in Defendant's Chase bank account in the amount of $73,000.00,' the bank said in a suit filed Tuesday afternoon in Gwinnett County, Georgia. By the time the check bounced six days later, a series of cash withdrawals at two Chase branches in the state totaling $82,500 had been made, according to the bank. The accused, whose name is being withheld by CNBC until she can respond, owes the bank $57,847.69, and hasn't complied with requests to return the funds, according to the lawsuit. Besides the Georgia case, the bank is filing lawsuits in state venues in Miami; the Bronx, New York; and two Texas counties, said the person, who declined to be identified speaking about the bank's plans. The episode highlights the lengths JPMorgan will go to to claw back funds it is owed and to deter future crimes. The bank looked at thousands of potential cases, choosing to litigate the largest amounts with the clearest pattern of theft, said the person familiar. The bank has also sent letters to more than 1,000 customers demanding they repay funds since October, this person said. Some people returned money on their own after CNBC reported in October that the bank was going after potential fraudsters who had drawn down the largest amounts, said the person. The lawsuits are separate from potential criminal cases that both federal and state law enforcement may be pursuing, according to the bank. 'We're still investigating cases of fraud and cooperating with law enforcement — and we'll do that for as long as it takes to hold fraudsters accountable,' Drew Pusateri, a spokesman for the New York-based bank, said in a statement. Bankruptcy shield? JPMorgan is also considering pushing back against the bankruptcy filings of alleged 'infinite money' fraudsters. In one of the bank's motions made this week in bankruptcy court in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the company asked a judge for more time to object to the customer's attempt to discharge his or her debts. The bank is the 'holder of an unsecured claim' that resulted from 'actions taken by the Debtor to deposit a fraudulent check in the amount of $44,779.46 to which the Debtors immediately made numerous cash withdrawals on August 30, 2024 as well as various Cash App transactions to himself,' the bank alleged. 'There are genuine and important reasons people use bankruptcy protections,' JPMorgan's Pusateri said. 'Getting rid of debts you accumulated through fraud isn't one of them.'
Axios
14-03-2025
- Business
- Axios
Small business spotlight: Nana Joes Granola
Meet Michelle Pusateri, a Culinary Institute of America-trained pastry chef who found herself "crashing out mid-surf session" and blamed the sugary granola she was eating for breakfast. Dig in: Pusateri channeled her baking experience to found the gluten-free, organic granola company Nana Joes in 2010. It's named for Pusateri's "Nana" and her grandfathers — both named Joe. How do customers typically discover your granola? "We've found most of our customers organically. People really, really love a granola that's clean, and so once we get it into people's mouths, people will come back for it. We have a 69% customer return rate on our website, which is great, and I've done all of the sales myself in the stores." How big is your small business? "Two million in revenue last year. We are eight employees, nine with me. We self-manufacture in the Dogpatch." Has social media been important for your business? "I haven't actually done TikTok. We had a couple of people who really loved our products, who were gluten-free influencers, who would talk about it a lot. Two of them: @kalejunkie and @celiacandthebeast." What's one piece of advice you have for other aspiring small business owners? "It's important to establish a clear vision and define your ultimate goals from the very beginning, [and] I highly recommend reading 'Traction' by Gino Wickman [to help with] structuring and scaling your company."
