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September 18, 2006

Fort Greene Takes a Big Gulp

cleaners.jpg
When reader noticed some activity at the shuttered French Cleaners on the corner of Cumberland and Lafayette in Fort Greene, he walked in for a closer look and found some flyers in the window advertising for 7-Eleven franchises in Brooklyn. Anyone know if this space is actually going to be converted into "Sev's," as we used to call it in our Slurpee-sipping teenage days? Our reader isn't particularly jazzed about having a chain store in the neighborhood but admits that it would be nice to have a deli in the area that stays open past 10 or 11 PM.
Check out the flyers in the window after the jump.

sevs.jpg




Posted by Brooklyn Record at 10:46 AM | Comments (19)
Categories: Food and Drink

Comments

oh no, please noooooooooo

Posted by: lc at September 18, 2006 12:56 PM

I glanced at the signs pretty quickly, but they looked to me like they were saying that Tommy (of Tommy's French Cleaners) had applied for a franchise license. I don't know much about 7-11s, but it seems like a somewhat unfortunate choice for a residential area that already has a decent bodega on that corner. It probably will make money, but I think there could be much better choices for the corner.

Posted by: aviatrix at September 18, 2006 1:19 PM

that is a travesty...

Posted by: Anonymous at September 18, 2006 1:49 PM

oh, for pity's sake! but, you know, if they would just leave the facade as is, it could be a bit less awful.

Posted by: suzy at September 18, 2006 2:07 PM

I thought this was going to become a men's clothing store?

Posted by: Anonymous at September 18, 2006 3:17 PM

The clothing store opened in a different French Cleaners on Lafayette (and Portland) a couple weeks ago.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 18, 2006 3:30 PM

I suggest that we just copy and paste the huge fallout over the Blimpie's opening on Lafayette into this thread and save ourself the trouble of what is looking probable to blow up into the exact same argument rehashed.

Posted by: escap at September 18, 2006 5:11 PM

This should complement the Blimpie's nicely.

Posted by: Adam at September 18, 2006 7:13 PM

I guess someone already made that reference. Oops.

Posted by: Adam at September 18, 2006 7:13 PM

Why can't the national chains figure out where there is a high level of foot traffic and enough parking for their customers and then find a location on one of those streets? Oh yeah, that's not possible because we don't have a ton of foot traffic and parking is always a problem.
But Lafayette Ave. is not a busy commercial street. And it's landmarked, so it's not going to be easy for them to move in and make it look anything like a 7-Eleven. If you are concerned about what this means for this neighborhood (and it could be your beloved neighborhood that 7-Eleven sets its sights on next) please take a moment and call Tish James' office at
718-260-9191 and ask her to help prevent a 7-Eleven from setting in on this primarily residential street in Fort Greene. Thanks.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 18, 2006 8:29 PM

Better yet, why can't 7-Eleven and all other chains test areas they're interested in to see if the local residents are newly arrived liberals, charmed by historic, low-rise Brooklyn, and deeply disdainful of anything corporate (despite the fact that many work corporate jobs)? Then we wouldn't have to put up with this type of intrusion.

(b4 you get too riled up, i'm just teasing you all)

Posted by: escap at September 18, 2006 11:50 PM

Some countries worry about starvation, disease, or genocide.

Here in America, we worry about chain stores?

Get a grip, people. Save the whining for something real.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 19, 2006 9:25 AM

if it's 24/7 i'm all for it. beers! yay!

of course ii heard a rumor that it was going to be an oyster bar, which would've been sort of a dream come true.

Posted by: jhoshea at September 19, 2006 5:43 PM

Tonight, I spoke to the guys at the Bodega across the street and asked if it was going to be a 7-11. They went off. Apparently they had arranged to rent the place from Tommy when he decided to close the cleaners, signed a lease and paid $21,000. Tommy allegedly reneged and not they are in court battling as Tommy countersued for $500,000. Rest easy folks, I have a feeling it will be a while before big gulps and slurpees come to Ft. Greene

Posted by: Robin at September 19, 2006 8:52 PM

I heard there were allegations of structural damage done to the bldg by the shop owners across the street who were remodeling inside the old cleaners. So it's sure to be a drawn out battle. But what's up with the 7-Eleven signage in the window? Seems like that's what they are aiming for now. I can't imagine why they can't all work out whatever problems they are having amicably without resorting to expensive legal hassles. Unless some big chain was dangling a ton of money in front of you perhaps?

Posted by: Anonymous at September 20, 2006 11:35 PM

I called the guy he put the application in the window to try and give someone the idea to rent his space and apply to put a 7-11 in there. That’s all. It won’t happen. Not a high enough traffic area. Anyway the blimpie will be out of business soon that guy is so slow and miserable and the bagel place across the street is on the ball.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 25, 2006 2:17 PM

just to second what anon 2:17 said. i finally got a good look at the signage and it's just tommy trying to get someone interested in it. there's a handwritten sign to the left of the ones pictured that says "call tommy" with a number. also, the official 7-11 "flyers" are torn from a mailing to tommy (his address is still listed there). perhaps he requested information or maybe they just send the info out to business owners.
all of this makes me think this ain't gonna happen.

Posted by: arsenal at September 28, 2006 1:00 AM

I'm surprised the dirty bodega across the street could afford another operation considering the sorry state of that store. Good beer selection, great for a can of soup or toilet paper, but otherwise it is a dirty place.

Posted by: Anonymous at October 2, 2006 5:51 PM

If you think a 7-11 in Fort Greene is a pretty cool idea, then perhaps I could convince you to move out of the neighborhood. If you'd like to contact me, I can recommend many lovely suburban towns that have several 7-11's that you can frequent as often as you'd like. And please don't trash the "dirty bodega across the street." Those guys are mad cool and most of us would rather buy stuff there than at 7-11.

Posted by: Luke at November 13, 2006 11:30 AM

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