A co-founder of the Cactus Club Cafe restaurant empire has sold his ownership stake in the company, leaving it in the hands of a long-time partner with whom he had waged a bitter court battle.
Richard Jaffray, who started Cactus Club with fellow Earls server Scott Morison in North Vancouver in 1988, has sold his portion of the company to the Fuller family, an investor from back in its earliest days.
He will step down as president in early March.
Jaffray and the Fullers — who also own the Earls dining chain — were immersed in lawsuits in B.C. Supreme Court in 2019 over what the family said were extravagant expense claims by the Cactus Club founder. Jaffray countered at the time that the family was misusing inside information about Cactus Club finances to help its Joey restaurants startup gain a competitive advantage.
It seems the two sides have decided to call a truce.
“We have enormous respect for what Richard has built. Under his leadership, Richard and the Cactus team have established and grown an outstanding restaurant brand and concept, developing deep and lasting customer relationships in the process,” said Stan Fuller in a press release on behalf of the Fullers.
“Our family has been a partner in Cactus Club since the very beginning, and we are thrilled to be assuming 100 per cent ownership of the brand.”
Leroy Earl (Bus) Fuller started the Earls chain in 1982, then helped Jaffray and Morison launch the first Cactus Club and expand across the Lower Mainland and eventually Canada. The two franchises co-existed amicably in the same “upscale casual” dining sector for three decades before the court battle broke out and revealed long-standing tensions.
(In the early 2000s, Morison moved on to another chain in the same space, the Browns Restaurant Group, where he remains president and CEO.)
“I am incredibly proud of the team that built Cactus Club into Canada’s leading casual fine dining brand,” said Jaffray in the statement.
There are 32 Cactus Club restaurants across Canada, including in Victoria and Nanaimo. They employ about 5,000 people.
Fuller said the family intends to “build on the work Richard has done” and won’t meddle with the formula.
“Cactus Club has always been independent, and it will stay that way, and as such we don’t intend to make any changes to the Cactus restaurants, brand or culture, and we are committed to Cactus Club’s talent,” said Stan Fuller.
“We value the relationship we have had with Richard and wish him nothing but the best for the future.”
