7901 Avenue André-Ampère. Permanently closed. After five years of service, Chez Smoothzi closed its doors in Rivière-des-Prairies. (La Converse) No flood.

No fire. No pandemic. It was killed by a landlord and a buyer who knew exactly how to exploit a young entrepreneur who didn’t yet know his rights.

The story started during the pandemic. One evening in May 2020, 19-year-old Ramzi Kerouicha told his mother Sabiha Merabet he wanted to sell smoothies on Snapchat. She said: “Perfect, tomorrow we go to the wholesaler.” Everything sold out in an hour and a half. (chez smoothzi) The family had been living in RDP for ten years and saw the potential of the neighborhood.

Three months after the Snapchat launch the results were so strong that Sabiha and her husband quit their jobs to open a physical restaurant. (Journal Métro) They built something real. In RDP, Chez Smoothzi wasn’t just a restaurant — it was a landmark, a place of culture. (La Converse) Kids came after school. Families came on weekends.

Tourists made the trip from across the city. 4.8 stars. Lines out the door.

Ramzi wasn’t an outsider trying to make it in Quebec. He was RDP. He grew up there, built there, served the community he came from.

This was a Quebec kid building something for his neighborhood on André-Ampère. Then came the end. Ramzi had planned to sell the business for $70,000 and leave on a high note after five years.

But the landlord signed a new lease without warning — and on the same day the new contract was in place, the buyer dropped his offer and proposed a lower price. Ramzi refused. He then tried to renew his own lease before the June 15 deadline.

The landlord flatly refused. He was forced out by September 14. (La Converse) Ramzi put it plainly: “They take advantage of the fact that we’re young and don’t know our rights.” (La Converse) The neighborhood felt it immediately. Two teenagers said it best: “There’s no other place like Chez Smoothzi in RDP.

Otherwise we go to McDonald’s or Tim Hortons but it’s not the same.” Another added: “When we see Chez Smoothzi, we see Rivière-des-Prairies. RDP without Chez Smoothzi is going to leave a void.” (La Converse) This is not an immigrant story. It’s a class story.

Ramzi was born and raised in Quebec. As RDP as it gets. Built something from nothing on André-Ampère with no government contract, no subsidy, no connections.

Just a 19-year-old on Snapchat and a mother who said yes without hesitation. And still got outmaneuvered by people who knew the rules better. The landlord knew lease law.

The buyer knew the timing. Ramzi found out after. That’s the gap that doesn’t get talked about in Quebec.

Not immigrant vs. established. Not francophone vs. anglophone. Just people who have access to legal knowledge and capital versus people who are building something real and learning the hard way that good faith and community love don’t show up in a contract.

Being born here doesn’t give you the keys to the system. It just means you grew up watching it work against people around you — and then one day it worked against you too. Ramzi noted that several other young entrepreneurs had experienced similar situations.

“They take advantage of the fact that we’re young and don’t know our rights,” he said. (La Converse) He wasn’t alone. He was just the one RDP noticed because his place meant something to everyone on that street. Chez Smoothzi is gone.

André-Ampère has a void. And somewhere in RDP, a kid who used to order on Snapchat in 2020 is going to McDonald’s now. Sources: La Converse, Journal Métro