The founder and president of Cactus Club has sold his stake in the business to the Fuller family.
Richard Jaffray, who spent more than three decades building Cactus Club into a notable Canadian restaurant chain, will step down as president and let the Fullers take full control. The Fullers are the family behind Earls Kitchen + Bar and Joey, and have been silent partners in Cactus Club since its beginning in 1988.
“We have enormous respect for what Richard has built,” Stan Fuller said in a press release. “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.
“Our family has been a partner in Cactus Club since the very beginning, and we are thrilled to be assuming 100% ownership of the brand.”
The Fullers stated they will be making no changes to Cactus Club, which has two locations in Kelowna. Jaffray opened the first Cactus Club in North Vancouver in 1988, and today there are 32 locations across Canada, employing 5,000 people.
“I am incredibly proud of the team that built Cactus Club into Canada’s leading casual fine dining brand,” Jaffray said. “There is no finer team to be found anywhere, and I know they will carry the Cactus Club brand on to continued success in the future.”
The transaction brings to an end several years of legal acrimony between Jaffray and the Fullers. CBC reported in 2019 that the two had filed lawsuits against one another in B.C. Supreme Court for a variety of business reasons.
