Melbourne bakery chain All Are Welcome has announced all three of its stores will close on June 15.

The move followed the bakery entering voluntary administration in February 2025, and comes amidst claims owner Boris Portnoy allegedly owes former and current employees $243,000 in superannuation and $125,000 in leave entitlements.

Boris bought back the business in April 2025, under a new entity and denied the claims, saying the bakery’s closure at Northcote – which produced the bread for all three sites – was due to the landlord being unwilling to transfer the lease to the new entity. He also denied the bakery’s closure was linked to the claims of monies being owed, and stated it was due largely to the fact they lost the heart of their bakery and couldn’t continue.

In a lengthy Instagram post Boris said, “It’s unfortunate, it’s sad, it’s ugly, it’s frustrating. It’s life.”

“All are welcome was a sign on the doors, then a sign on the window, then a message that all people should be welcome. To not be flexible to every whim of every customer, but to do things that we were proud of. Welcome to roam, to cross borders, to give it a go, welcome not to make almond croissants,” he wrote.

“In the last 8 years we saw so many people meet here, break up here, make up, make babies, move out, start over. And we got to meet their parents, lovers, babies. We chased loads of pigeons out of the bakeries and trapped a few inside just to get texts saying “hey there’s a pigeon stuck inside”.

“We worked with the best farmers, we bought amazing ingredients from people that cared and took care in their work. We supported people and were looked after by many more. We learned from our employees and from making our own mistakes. We gave people a go, taught them skills, they gave us a go a taught us new things. We loved, hated, we’ve been frustrated, annoyed, and mixed those feeling into an emotional soup.

“All are welcome to make things better, we didn’t always succeed but we always had the best intentions.”

Speaking with Broadsheet, Boris said he and his team had run through all the scenarios to see what the business would look like without its Northcote headquarters.

“It was really clear that we were going to be taking on more risk,” he said.

“It could work if everything goes right, but not everything has been going right. If I have learnt anything, it’s that I don’t need to be taking as much risk.”