Storefronting: Frank Empire Eyes EV Wine, Vinylmania Shutters, UWS Whole Foods Confirmed
Wednesday, March 21, 2007, by Lockhart
Storefronting, our regular report from the front lines of the city's changing storescape. Your tips, as always, help our garden grow.
1) East Village: Even though bars and restaurants in the East Village have been ordered dry left and right, the hood is still safe for booze stores, of course. And the neighborhood might be gaining a new, not much needed wine shop. A tipster writes, "I was at In Vino last night (same block as EU, kates joint and mamlouk) and one of the bartenders, in addition to telling a long, loud story about getting stoned and going to the Imax (not telling it to me, mind you), told a pretty single girl sitting at the bar that they (the frank/max/supper/little frankie's/in vino mafia) are planning to put an Italian wine shop into the vacant space next door, which used to be some kind of 'dark arts' showroom." [Storefronting Inbox]
2) West Village: One more sign that the West Village of yore is going, going, gone: record shop Vinylmania wax emporium has closed. The store opened in 1978. More color, courtesy of the TONY blog: "[it] was at one time so successful that it had four separate shops on Carmine Street—one entirely devoted to morning music, no less—and the last shop at 60 Carmine Street remained a haven for house-music spinners." [TONY Blog, Gothamist]
3) Upper West Side: More Whole Foods? More Whole Foods, because a longtime rumor is finally official: an eagle-eyed tipster alerts us to a press release that we somehow managed to overlook last month, stating that Whole Foods has signed a lease for 808 Columbus, the 29-story residential tower located between 97th and 100th Streets. The store will cover 57,000 square feet on two levels. Notes our tipster, "As a condominium owner/resident on W 94th Street, I am totally psyched. Now about that rumor of Trader Joe's coming to West 93rd Street..." [Winick Realty]
Why, oh why isn't there a Whole Foods on the Upper East? I have to trek down 80 blocks to get to one.
I've lived in NYC all my life and I never stepped foot in one of these Whole Foods places. What the fuck is the big deal??
Too bad about Vinylmania. That place was a lot of fun (something of a music Peanuts Gallery) and most of my house music collection and some hip-hop came from that store. So did a few most prominent dance music producers. It willl be missed, so will that whole era of the of music shopping as an experience worthwhile. Going diggin'. Oh, well.. Tisk. Tisk...
"Going, going, gone?" The whole freakin' city of "yore" dropped dead somewhere around 1989, give or take a few. Fuckin' sad .
Re: Whole Foods on 97th St. Okay with me, though the "landmark location" referred to in the press release is a large hole in the ground.
By the way, has anyone noticed that we've now got 808 Amsterdam retail available as well. So proclaims the billboard on 100th St. Nice ring to it, no? The 808s?
Perfect spot for Duane Reade Megastore. If they're not interested, I'm sure Home Depot would be.
"Why, oh why isn't there a Whole Foods on the Upper East? I have to trek down 80 blocks to get to one."
How about shopping locally? I can think of several high-end places where fresh produce, and other items comparable to what WF sells can be bought. Then you would be supporting smaller, privately owned NYC businesses, instead of a chain whore. It's becuase of people like you in part at least- that we're in the situation we're in.
Wake the fuck up you lazy asshole.
Amen, Hazygray (#1)! I'm an UES-er and every time I say the same thing someone responds with 'oh, but you have eli's'. like, hello?!? Nothing against Elis but it's not the same...call me crazy but I don't like paying $5.99 lb for tomatoes.
Say what you want but New Yorkers like Whole Foods because the size, the variety & quality make it competitive with other grocery stores in the city.
Another asshole above makes an appearance. Move to New Jersey or Long Island and shut up.
Correction #7- places like Whole Foods don't compete with other grocery stores, they close them.
Am I missing something here....the E Vill was ordered dry?? Or was it only select venues?
Someone please explain....otherwise I'll have to re-arrange my social schedule to another part of town..thx.
If you can't, or don't like paying 5.99 per pound for tomatoes, or anything else for that matter, you probably shouldn't be living on the Upper East Side.. or Manhattan for that matter.
I hope it gets dry as a bone- just for the mere effect of getting people like you the fuck out of our neighborhood.
# 6 & #9, WF doesn't close other stores...the stores lose business because they can't compete with inferior goods and higher prices (and you'd know what I'm talking about if you've ever been inside of a whole foods).
I have nothing against supporting smaller privately-owned stores as long as they provide what I need - cleaner shelves, lower prices and a better selection. Cost of living is high enough in this city, may people won't pay extra support a business just to make a point.
And don't kid yourself, some of these 'small privately owned' businesses resort to extortionary tactics to keep other players out of the hood.
i miss growing my own vegetables
whole foods is groovy
is there ever going to be a walmart here in nyc
to make me feel more like home
So small businesses can't compete with "high prices" and "inferior" goods, ( Fairway and Zabar's looks just fine to me, and the prices are more than reasonable ). I see clean shelves too. So then chains open up, offer decent product at a lower price - HELLOOOOO! They can afford to do that shmucko!!
I salute every single one of those small business owners who resort to any tactic they choose - they were there first, they're what makes NYC what it should be. If you "can't stand the heat, get out of the city".
Whole Foods isn't directly competing with Citarella/Fairway -- those stores will continue to do fine even with the WF behemoth. It's the Gristedes, METs, and Dagostinos of the world that need to watch out... and after seeing mice running around inside the Gristede's near my house, I'm not crying for their ownership.
R.I.P. Vinylmania. There are still many record stores in new york that supply new and old vinyl dance music. but vinylmania was always known as the authority. i suppose with time all such small specialty shops in the city will have to close for similar reasons.
i had always hoped the village would be insulated from the scrubbing-clean of new york's street culture because it is the original american hipster nabe. no such luck.
so long to another piece of new york's underground culture from the 70s/80s/90s that inspired a generation to dance till the sunrise.
I have to admit that I like to shop at local places, but some of the supermarkets I have seen in areas considered "prime" Manhattan are horrible to me given how much people pay in rent and/or to purchase apartments so that they can live in these areas. Whole Foods may be expensive, but it's still one of the best place to buy consistently fresh produce in Manhattan (excluding farmers' market).
#6/#15, there IS no equivelent of Fairway or Zabars on the UES...that's the POINT. Whole foods opened up nearby (columbus circle) and that hasn't hurt business one bit.
Not to mention other UWS markets, like Westside Market, Broadway Farm....etc. The UES lacks the same variety of quality markets.
Not saying whole foods is the be-all-end-all but that compared to other neighborhoods in the city, the UES is grossly underserved by decent markets given its population size and demographic.
So before you start calling me names, perhaps you should spend some time food shopping on the UES.
Don't kid yourself se, all of the UWS food retailers will lose some local residents' business to an 97th-100th St Whole Foods. That location should also draw central/south harlem and morningside heights residents and perhaps even further up given available parking and subway access. The reason the UES is not benefiting to date is the scarcity of new large box retail space.
Thanks for the Eulogy Bkjoe- I couldn't have captured it more eloquently. It really is a sad time for the city.. at least for me it is.
Whole Foods: Awesome. The current offerings in the area consist of a dirty and cramped Associated on (96/Amsterdam), a scary Food Town at (94/Columbus), a limited-selection overpriced Gourmet Garage (96/Broadway), and a mediocre underground Gristede's (96/Broadway). Those are the stores who will face the most competition from the new arrival, and they should because they poorly serve the surrounding population. Great news for the area.
bkjoe and anon:
if you want to dance to the wee hours to underground (yaaawn) music, go to some lame jersey or staten island 'club'. the prime village deserves better than this. i hope they put a brand spankin' new apple ipod store in its place, and a cafe grumpy's or joe's coffee joint right next door.
I can't believe some of you people are comparing whole foods to walmart. Whole foods is based on some really important ideals, and yes of course they have to compromise as they are indeed a chain, but they supply really good products and I personally really like how they have --among other thins--made free range products such an accessible alternative.
The weird thing is that Whole Foods touts its fruits and vegetables as the best and people say that's what they like about it. But when you stand in line everyone has baskets full of their prepared food from the deli area.
There are also the natural health food stores, one on 96th $ Columbus and one next to gourmet garage on Broadway. I imagine the 96th one will def go out of business because it is ridiculously expensive.
#6 - "I can think of several high-end places where fresh produce, and other items comparable to what WF sells can be bought. Then you would be supporting smaller, privately owned NYC businesses, instead of a chain whore. It's becuase of people like you in part at least- that we're in the situation we're in."
So Zabar's or Fairway are small? For Sam Zabar the deli is just a hobby (despite doing 8 figures in business a year) considering that he now owns a good portion of Broadway from the 70's through the 90's. Not that I begrudge him his success, I just don't think he is a "small businessman".
The people who will suffer the most will be Gristedes and D'ag, who are both significantly overpriced anyway and will make the high prices of WF seem reasonable in comparison.
I am glad that WF is moving to the UWS. I live two blocks from D'Agostino and am appalled at the crappy condition of the store, the limited selection and incredibly rude salespeople. I would much rather go out of my way, hop on the train down to Fairway or WF and trek back up than go to D'Agostino. They and Gristedes charge more than WF yet offer lower quality produce, selection and a significantly worse customer experience. They had better shape up or else face the prospect of going out of business. That is the nature of business -- offer what customers want. Compete or die. End of story.
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