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Yulee restaurant reopens after abrupt closure, lawsuit against majority owners

By: Chris Will, Brianna Andrews

The complaint highlighted an ongoing back-and-forth between the majority and minority owners of the Mexican restaurants in Northeast Florida.

Court documents claimed the majority owners, Jesus and Blanca Valencia, “took unilateral steps – against the demands of its minority shareholder – to shut down both of these successful and profitable restaurants.”

Higdon said she tried to reopen the restaurants but the the Valencias had changed the locks.

Since the news broke, the majority owners sent News4JAX a statement, saying there is more to the story.

“For over a year-and-a-half Blanca and Jesus Valencia have attempted to find an amicable solution to turn around their Yulee and Blanding restaurants, which were not turning profits. The Valencias own and operate several restaurants. All of them are successful and turn profits. Only the ones under Ms. Higdon, in Blanding and Yulee, were failing and heading for bankruptcy. Ms. Higdon was given the option to let the Valencias' team come in and run the failing restaurants (without her removal as a minority partner), buy them out of their partnership, or sell her partnership to them. She refused all of those options, while driving the restaurants into the ground….”

They said that they asked Higdon to step down from her role and when she didn't they “had no choice but to lock the doors to regain control of our business.”

Read previous full statement below:

On Dec. 3 we had to make the painful decision to temporarily lock the doors of two of our restaurants in Blanding and Yulee. This was the direct result of infructuous negotiations with Melandy Higdon, a minority partner we had asked to step down from her executive duties at these two locations. She refused numerous times and was informed in writing, more than once, that her refusal would result in the temporary closing of the restaurants to relieve her from her duties, and for Mr. Valencia as President of the company and majority owner to regain control of the operations and restructure them for success.

Once the decision was made to close temporarily, Mrs. Higdon was notified in writing more than once over the span of four weeks and was specifically asked to notify the employees under her. She refused to do so. We had no choice but to lock the doors to regain control of our business.

The closing is temporary. Both stores will reopen next week. All employees in good standing are being invited back to their jobs. We have sent an informative email (attached) to them and held a meeting today with many of them. As of now, all the employees we've reached are happy to return to work.

We are very sorry about the disruption this caused in our employees' lives and have expressed this sentiment to them. They deserve better. We are now moving on to restructure our management team in the affected stores to improve operations, as well as communication with our staff and the community that has kindly supported us throughout the years.

Jesus and Blanca Valencia, Owners of Salsas' Restaurant and Añejo Restaurant

But Higdon's attorneys said their client was trying to buy the majority stake and that their move to close was to pressure a better deal.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Higdon said:

For the past several years, Melandy Higdon has successfully operated both Salsas Cocina Mexicana & Cantina and Anejo Cocina Mexicana in Northeast Florida to the delight of patrons, providing a wonderful place of employment for many dedicated and hardworking staff.

Unfortunately, the majority shareholders have schemed to engage in a plan of disloyalty and sabotage to enrich themselves. This corporate greed ultimately hurts the hardworking staff and their families and deprives its patrons of a favorite mainstay in the communities they operate.

Jesus and Blanca Valencia's actions will be dealt with in a court of law so that justice can be served, and Ms. Higdon and her dedicated team can return to serving the patrons who love the food and service they received at both restaurants. Thanks to Ms. Higdon's tireless efforts, both restaurants have been successful, and there is no legitimate business reason for closings,” said a spokesperson for Ms. Higdon.

A spokesperson for Higdon

That lawsuit also asked for the court to have the majority owners pay for any relief the court deems fit.

But the Valencias say the situation at the restaurants is already turning around with a new management team in place.

The Blanding location opened less than 48 hours after closing, and the Valencias said most if not all employees are back. They said all employees will be paid for their time off.

Añejo Yulee, which reopens Monday, posted that they are hiring.

The Valencias said they nor their attorney have been served with the lawsuit.