Left rectangle ads redesigned
Robert Ripps book
History of Tribeca Buildings
Maison Kayser on Harrison is closed
J. caught it first, and F. sent this picture above of the guys moving out the kitchen equipment, so yes, the Maison Kayser location at Greenwich and Harrison is closed (no response yet from corporate on why). The other 16 locations in the city (all in Manhattan except for one) seem to be operational, but the Tribeca location is gone from the website.
The chain started in 1996 in France, of course, but now has 100 shops across the globe. The first NYC flag was planted on the Upper East Side (it really is more that kind of place) in 2012, and ours opened in summer 2015. I am still a salty about the Harrison closing — and even though it was no fault of Kayser’s, I kind of held it against them. But now I am very sorry to see this prominent corner of the neighborhood go dark. Let’s hope it doesn’t last long.
50 Comments
Comment:
Medium rectangle #1 (top)
Right column rectangle ads
Mega rectangle
Restaurant guide icon
We dropped by yesterday to buy some pastries and they told us that it was the last day but they weren’t supposed to tell anyone. Very strange.
What?! First Arcade, now this. (I never went to just baked) Thank goodness for Grandaisy. But where are we to get a quality baguette?
Their Stirato is better than many so called baguettes you find around here…
The Maison Kaysers on Bleecker St and Broadway at 13th St. are also both closed. Hope this isn’t a falling dominoes thing. Was a fan of the breads and breakfast bakery items for a Sunday morning treat. Sandwiches for grab-and-go were excellent and so was the seasonal gazpacho…both red and green!
What a bummer. It was the only place open at 7am in the neighborhood.
Well, not true. There’s Gee Whiz (6a), Tribeca’s Kitchen, PQ, both Kaffes (6:30a), Gotan, what else can people add??
Benvenuto, corner of Franklin and Greenwich, open 24/7, excellent food.
How odd. It was a nice addition to the neighborhood, although Harrison Restaurant will always be in my heart.
Benvenuto Cafe on Franklin/Greenwich is open 24/7
“How’s Bayou” will always be my favorite at that location!
agreed
On the closed shop front – each store has a unique story – ranging from high rent to mismanagement to not good enough product to higher expenses, such as labor. MK was probably a mixture of all of it. They needed dinner income, but that never materialized. Property owner, walter and samuels (a large private RE owner) is asking $40k/mo for MK space now. Would need annual sales of about $4.5M to support. Tough number to get to. Unless owner is willing to come down to $30k range the space we will probably see this space stay empty for a while.
Thanks for the info Demetri! I assume you are the Demetri I know.
Its’s a bummer that MK closed. I really loved Their bagettes!
Best,
Nico
Yes. SIGH.
I am so disappointed as it was my fave cup of java. Equally shocked that their loyal clientele were not given any notice. And what happened to the employees?! I can’t help but wonder. Will miss their coffee and super yummy bread.
no surprise. can’t afford $50,000-$100,000 a month rent from greedy landlords. Its very sad, every nice place that opens sooner for later closes.
This is exactly right… Greedy landlords and laws not supportive for the longevity of local/small businesses. Frustrating loss for our neighborhood.
This is why I closed Tribeca Language years ago. The only “raison d’être” for my business was to make my landlord happy with an insane rent… It’s out of control. I am sad about Maison Kayser. Their bread was so good.
Don’t know if this is the same company as the original one in France, or if this a franchise operation, or whatever, but clearly they are overextended. In addition to the Manhattan closures, they also closed both their places in DC last month (opened in February 2018) and their London locations were closed in May. Don’t know what’s happening in France… or what will happen here next.
And let’s face it, their stuff was good but not that good.
https://london.frenchmorning.com/2019/05/17/deux-ans-apres-son-ouverture-la-boulangerie-maison-kayser-londres-ferme-ses-portes/
https://frenchmorning.com/laventure-sarrete-pour-maison-kayser-a-washington-dc/
Benveunto Cafe, Maman (W Broadway and Canal), Fika, Square Diner, Zuckers…
And apparently I totally missed that Fika had closed! That’s too bad.
Fika is closed, but otherwise good additions.
Closed in Washington DC too, I don’t know why.
Nothing lasts long in that area except maybe the corner grab and go cafe. The Harrison, TribecaTap Bar, the tapas place, the cafe across the street with the Russian hookers, the Italian place a while back. That turnover is ridiculous. They all bit the dust. Il Mulino never seems to have anyone inside and someone noted that Mark Forgione is looking to close American Cut and open a different concept in Tribeca. Yeah, we all hate the greedy landlords, but that street seems jinxed.
All the stores across the street at IP (except for Duane Reade) are closed, too … When I first moved here in 2014, the street was alive and bustling, with a variety of places where you could grab a bite. Cornerstone, The Harrison, the dessert place across from The Harrison … they all gave the neighborhood convenience and character. There was sushi, pizza, a deli; now, Dr. Snood for the CitiPeople.
maureensilverman@gmail.com
Maison Kayser Tribeca I heard Did less business than their other locations. They also may be expanding too quickly. I liked the grab n go in back- they let people sit there for however long – to work, have meetings, play board games with their kids etc. My neighbor met with her poetry writing group there.
REALLY unhappy about this! Starting to turn into a ghost town on this block! Thank goodness for Benvenuto!
It’s never a good idea when local government mandates how small businesses are to be run. This NY Post editorial explains what is happening:
“Just as predicted, the $15 minimum wage is killing vulnerable city small businesses, with the low-margin restaurant industry one of the hardest-hit as it also faces a separate mandatory wage hike for tipped staffers.”
https://nypost.com/2019/09/30/as-predicted-the-15-wage-is-killing-jobs-all-across-the-city/
Just so we balance the media input on this issue, here’s NPR’s reporting on a recent Berkeley study:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/15-minimum-wage-reduces-poverty-doesnt-cut-jobs-berkeley-study-says-2019-07-08
Also reported in this marketwatch story:
“A Harvard Business School study from 2018 looking at raises to the minimum wage in San Francisco found that minimum wage increases made restaurants that were rated approximately 3.5-stars on Yelp more likely to shut down. The increase did not have any significant effect on 5-star restaurants.”
I love it! The business owner has to pay $30-40K a month in rent and let’s blame the minimum wage workers!
F-the Berkeley Study.
“Has to pay” rent? No. It’s the minimum wage that is mandatory, not the rent, which was freely contracted.
There isn’t any balancing of media here. Apples and oranges. The Berkeley study is predicting what they think will happen as the federal minimum wage increases to $15 an hour by 2024. We have had a $15 an hour minimum wage in NYC since January of this year and the effects have been devastating on small mom and pop businesses right now, right here, in NYC. It is shameful, along with all of the other mandatory fees, regulations and laws the City subjects small businesses to. Why do we have empty storefronts? Start with these issues before looking at “greedy landlords.”
Says the guy quoting the NY Post. Lol.
You shouldn’t be afraid of a little diversity of thought and opinion, and come out of your media bubble once in a while. But since you so disparage the Post, perhaps you won’t be fearful of reading these links about the disaster the $15.00 minimum wage in NYC:
“NYC restaurants cutting staff hours as minimum wage hits $15”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nyc-restaurants-cut-staff-hours-to-cope-with-minimum-wage-hike-hitting-15/
“Canary in the coal mine? NYC small businesses struggle to survive $15 minimum wage hike: ‘They’re shutting down’”
https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/canary-in-the-coal-mine-nyc-businesses-struggle-to-survive-15-minimum-wage-hike-theyre-shutting-down/
“New York City’s $15 Minimum Wage Is Now Officially a Disaster”
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/new-york-city%E2%80%99s-15-minimum-wage-now-officially-disaster-71761
“$15 Minimum Wage Sparks A Jobs Recession In New York”
https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/minimum-wage-new-york-jobs-recession/
“NYC Has Lost 4,000 Jobs in the Restaurant Sector Alone in the Last Year”
https://fee.org/articles/nyc-has-lost-4-000-jobs-in-the-restaurant-sector-alone-in-the-last-year/
Damn. Best baguette in the neighborhood. Their epi baguette was a thing of legend and their tarts and pastries were also superb.
I will sorely miss it – my go-to place daily. And someone mentioned How’s Bayou – that can’t be topped for the fun we all had there. Other night I was in Whole Foods and the upstairs restaurant was deserted at dinnertime. Except for people playing games no one was eating and some had food from MacDonald’s.
Tribeca is fast becoming a ghost town.
Restaurants that open in the area need to have perfect execution to survive, let a lone thrive. MK was not one of them. I’ve tried several times to eat there and was disappointed, even aggravated, by their service. Every. Single. Time. And I’m a pretty low maintenance diner.
I agree about the service. I would have eaten there more often because I liked the food, but was always frustrated by the service.
Who can be defending the greedy landlords against the lowest earners who need the $15/h to be able to leave in NY?!?
Definitely not the right way of looking at reality
Will miss MK in the area for sure
The real reason that landlords are able to keep storefronts empty is their ability to use depreciation to shield taxes. This is a massive real estate industry loophole that prevents rents from going to true market-based pricing.
This is a meaningless word salad.
Depreciation would be used to “shield,” or offset, income, not “taxes.” If you do not rent the store, you do not have that rental income on which to pay taxes or to shield from taxation using depreciation. If you do rent the store, you earn more taxable income. (The depreciation available is unaffected by whether you rent the store.)
Exactly!
Sad, but was disappointed the promise of Gluten Free goods never solidified, so was never was a spot for me. Had a soft spot for Harrison which was the first new restaurant to open post 9/11 for those of us who lived in TriBeCa during that time. Was a big deal. And while I did not want to see The Harrison go, I wanted to accept the new establishment until I learned their offerings were not for me. Here’s hoping an all-inclusive restaurant opens in the spot!!
The biggest reason? MK in Paris is great food. This place was disgusting. Disgusting.
Thank you TG. Some folks find it easier to blame the 15/hr workers than the landlords who are super greedy. Stores all over NYC are closing because of the greedy landlords. I can give countless examples like that sheet music store that had to close because the landlord wanted now 1 million dollar rent. The family run italian business food (delicious) closed after so many years, the landlord wanted 7000 dollar increase (22nd and 6th av
)..
The greedy people would rather go broke and burn the house down, rather than see a handful of humans making a living and be secure with their kids. Why do you think nasty politicians send armies to destroy and kill 1000s of miles away ?. Same mentality.
The ones blaming the 15/hr are the ones secretly sharing that inner darkness as the greedy landlords.
Go work 2 hrs of a moving job at 15/hr and then tell me is a lot
The sad truth is that many aging and declining businesses barely survive customer tastes and trends and technology turning away from them despite charging today’s market prices in part because they pay below-market rents on years-old leases until they expire.
Here’s the sheet music store story from NPR:
“Historic NYC Sheet Music Store To Close
May 1, 2009 4:00 PM ET
Heard on All Things Considered […]
“But today, in a declining economy, business is way down and sheet music can be bought online. So Patelson’s, as everyone calls it, will close when all of its current inventory is gone. Musicians from all over are trying to get to the store one last time — to buy a memento, or maybe just refresh a memory.
“Patelson’s is an old carriage house turned into a store. […]
“Joseph Patelson was followed by his son, Dan, and now his daughter-in-law, Marsha. She’s run the shop for the last five years. A cellist and music teacher, she says she’s never been a real businessperson — and business has been declining for years. She took out loans; she refinanced her house. But starting last summer, business really went down hill. She remembers going to the bank and not being able to meet a payroll.
” ‘About a month ago, I realized we were on our last, you know, straw,’ Marsha Patelson says.”
Greedy Landlords?
In case anybody has not noticed, store vacancies have skyrocketed and store asking rents are down significantly. Perhaps we need to stop blaming the landlords and look at other factors such as increased wages and the fact that the abundance of illegal street vendors create a difficult environment for storekeepers attempting to create a pleasant shopping experience.
The overabundance of (even non-wage) regulations make it unappealing to attempt to build and open and run a store or restaurant.
First Best Market and now this! My two places! I am so sad. I feel like everything in the neighborhood is closing! ????