NOTE: This article has been edited from a previous version.

The public health unit closed the store’s flagship Avenue Rd. and Lawrence Ave. W. location due to “poor sanitation and pest infestation” after a public complaint led to an inspection Thursday morning, said public health spokeswoman Rishma Govani.

“It is up to the operator to improve their services and arrange a reinspection with the public health inspector,” Govani said. “It was evident there was poor sanitary conditions and infestation of both rats and cockroaches.”

When first asked why the store was closed Thursday, Pusateri’s general manager, John Mastroianni, told the Star it was for “general maintenance . . . equipment maintenance, that kind of thing.”

“It’s not rodents,” he insisted.

Later, when confronted with confirmation from the public health unit that the closure was due to a pest infestation, Mastroianni admitted cockroaches had been found in the store.

On Thursday afternoon, employees could be seen removing trays of gourmet chocolate chip cookies and luxury chocolates before vigorously scrubbing shelves and countertops.

A statement from Pusateri’s said staff hoped to have the store up and running again within a couple of days. Their two other stores — in Yorkville and Bayview Village — are still open for business.

“It’s one of the worst days in our lives,” president Frank Luchetta told a late-night news conference with vice-president Ida Pusateri, his sister, at his side. He said employees were scrambling to get things in order.

“We have basically 150 staff ripping the place apart, cleaning every nook and cranny of the store,” Luchetta said.

“We regret that this situation has occurred and we want to ensure our loyal customers and friends that we are diligently working on rectifying this situation,” Ida Pusateri said in the earlier statement.

The statement said a small portion of the storage area and walk-in coolers as well as “hard-to-reach and obscure locations” seem to have been infested by pests, which may have been missed as a result of human error during ongoing routine maintenance.

Luchetta said they believe the cockroaches had come in with a shipment of Christmas wicker baskets from outside the country. The health order, he said, was only to the Avenue Rd. store.

Mastroianni said the store receives food shipments from hundreds of suppliers from all over the world and pest control is carried out regularly.

Govani could not immediately confirm where pests were found.

Mastroianni said it was the first time a Pusateri’s had been closed due to pests.

The infestation is the latest installment of a culinary saga that spans decades.

What was a Canadian success story became a legal drama when in 2006, Ida Pusateri — the widow of Cosimo — bought out her sister-in-law, Toni Trozzo, following a bitter feud between the two.

Ida Pusateri and her Ferrari-driving brother, Luchetta, were criticized at the time for their emphasis on glamorous presentation rather than old-fashioned hard work.

A woman who answered the phone at the Trozzo residence refused comment. “My parents aren’t interested,” she said.

Customers said they were shocked to hear of a pest infestation at such a high-end business, where takeout includes “Spicy Elegant Asparagus” for $14.99/lb. and Cornish hen wrapped in pancetta served with a fig reduction for $19.99/lb.

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“It would be the last place I would expect this at,” said Sam, a regular customer who didn’t give his last name. “I’m going to think twice about shopping here now.”

“It shocks me to hear this,” said Malcolm, a produce worker at the Yorkville site who was lining layers of organic royal gala apples with tissue paper to prevent bruising.

Malcolm said the store is a “cut above other grocery stores” and that he hasn’t seen any traps — roach, rat or otherwise — since he started work three weeks ago.

“When it becomes big, there’s trouble,” said Martin Charles, 88, a retired consultant and patron for four decades who was sitting in the Yorkville location’s café.

Pusateri’s feuding families

Late 1950s: Salvatore Pusateri, 34, immigrates to Canada from Sicily with his wife, Rosaria, and two children, Cosimo, 6, and Toni, 2.

1963: Salvatore opens a grocery at St. Clair Ave. W. and Northcliffe Blvd., in Corso Italia.

1971: Sam Trozzo begins an apprenticeship with Salvatore.

1980: Toni Pusateri marries Trozzo.

1980: Cosimo Pusateri marries Ida Luchetta.

Mid-1980s: Cosimo buys 1539 Avenue Rd., then a 6,000 square foot supermarket. Toni has a 48 per cent share of the business, Cosimo 52 per cent.

1995: Cosimo dies of colorectal cancer, Ida inherits his share of the business.

2005: The two families — Ida on one side, Toni on the other — try to buy each other out after Ida fires Toni and Sam’s daughter, Cristina

2006: Ida outbids Toni for the company, paying between $14.5 million and $22 million.