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Cork & Olive Owner Hopes To Reopen Stores

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 3, 2008

WESLEY CHAPEL - WESLEY CHAPEL - For several weeks, visitors to the local Cork & Olive store at Northwoods Shopping Center have found a sign on the door announcing "closed for repairs."

Store founder Michael Probst concedes that's a euphemism that may be wearing thin as his company lingers in bankruptcy court.

Probst's Estate Wine Group filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June after a key investor backed out of a deal to prop up the company's finances. As a result, Probst closed company-owned stores, including the one in Wesley Chapel, and set several franchises, including one in Trinity, free.

Probst said the company-owned stores could open shortly if things go as planned.

"We are waiting on an investment group to step in and take over," Probst said Monday.

Probst's recent bankruptcy filing put an end to his effort to build a business around low-cost wines, many from unknown vineyards across the globe. The company also carried a variety of olive oils and hosted monthly tastings in stores.

Probst opened his first Cork & Olive in 2004 in Clearwater. When he filed for bankruptcy four years later, the business had grown to eight company-owned stores and nine franchises.

The company-owned Wesley Chapel store opened in 2005 at the peak of residential growth in central Pasco.

Probst said his company fell victim to his mistake of expanding it too quickly.

"I really think that, looking back, it grew too fast," Probst said.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201 or kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com.

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