Since 2021 amid a legal imbroglio involving two brothers, Mercearia São Pedro —a well-known meeting point for writers, artists and bohemians in Vila Madalena— is getting closer and closer to officially closing its doors. According to Marcos Benuthe, Marquinhos, son of the founder and one of the parties involved in the process, the bar should stop working by April.
This, according to Marquinhos, is the deadline that the developer that bought the land at number 34 Rua Rodesia, where the bar is located, expects the resolution of all pending documents for the sale. The last step, which involves finalizing an inventory, would be stuck.
When the first rumors about the sale of Mercearia appeared, Marquinhos had said that the property would be demolished for the construction of a real estate development, and Pedro, his brother and currently responsible for managing the Mercearia, denied that there were any ongoing negotiations—although Marquinhos insisted that he would already be receiving advances on the sale.
“At the time, Pedro said that he had only sold the property on the corner. But now customers and employees say that the Mercearia is sold and that the developer even bought the property next door, where there is a thrift store”, said the former owner of the space, which today touches the Ria Livraria in the same neighborhood.
The confusion even gained a new layer when, in August of that year, the Justice of São Paulo ordered the sale of three other properties belonging to the Benuthe family — all neighbors of the bar.
The decision came from another legal dispute involving the two brothers. As co-owner of the properties, Marcos asked for the sale of the buildings, saying that there was a breach of trust in society and difficulty in administration. According to the process, he would not have access to his share in the rents for the sites and preferred to share the value that will come from the sale of the buildings.
Sought this Wednesday (18), Pedro, the other part of the company, told the report that he would not talk about the matter on the advice of his lawyer. In previous episodes, he was also approached and did not comment on these sales or the status of the process.
One of the busiest sidewalks in São Paulo, Mercearia São Pedro was opened in 1968 by Pedro Benuthe, father of Pedro and Marcos. Part of the establishment’s history is immortalized in the pages of “Saideira – The Book of Epitaphs”, an anthology organized by writers Marcelino Freire and Joca Reiners Terron, which arrived at bookstores in April 2018 in celebration of the house’s 50th anniversary.
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