October 6th, 2019
BVI Traveller just saw the following update from Charles Tobias, founder of the Pusser’s chain of restaurants and stores throughout the BVI. He reported, “To all our friends and Pusser’s supporters, we’re sorry to have to tell you that we no longer have a presence at Marina Cay. Yep! Our time is up. After more than 25 years as a tenant with a good landlord, we’ve had to call it quits. We’re a small company, and Hurricane IRMA ate us up financially. Consequently, we were unable to meet the terms of a new lease. Nevertheless, we had a good run, introduced Pusser’s to a lot of good people like you, and had a lot of fun. But we’re still flying and moving forward!”
Pusser’s currently operates Pusser’s Restaurant at Myett’s at Cane Garden Bay with an adjoining Pusser’s Co. Store; the Pusser’s Painkiller Bar and Co. Store in Road Town; and a Pusser’s Co. Store at Leverick Bay on Virgin Gorda. They expect to re-open our their Pusser’s Landing and Co. Store at West End by the first part of December, 2019.
The island of Marina Cay has had an interesting history. In the late 1930’s it was home to newlyweds Robb and Rodie White. His best selling book of 1953, Our Virgin Island, chronicled their life on Marina Cay. It became a film starring Sidney Poitier and John Cassavetes, much of it filmed on the island. For 20 years after Robb White’s departure for WWII, the island lay uninhabited, until a small hotel opened in 1960. In the early 1990’s, Charles Tobias set about building a very small and intimate resort with a gift shop and Pusser’s Restaurant on this charming, 8 acre island.
The closing of Pusser’s Marina Cay will be a real dagger in the heart of the many, many fans who have visited the establishment over the the years.
Read the official announcement on the Pusser’s company website
Photo of Marina Cay pre-Irma courtesy of Pussers’ Co.