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February 13, 2009

Slope's Love=? Closing

love-equals-closing-0209.jpgAnother one bites the dust. The oddly-named women's clothing store Love=? at 162 5th Avenue in Park Slope will be closing shortly, according to Gowanus Lounge. Retail rents in the area are going to have to start going down soon, no? There are a gazillion vacancies on Flatbush right now.
Love=? on Fifth Going Bye Bye [GL] GMAP




Posted by Brownstoner at 10:44 AM | Comments (22)
Categories: Park Slope, Streetlevel

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even if retail rents to come down, it's still a tough sell. while it's very sad, small niche designer clothing isn't all that appealing to a lot of people anymore. bring back a nice old fashioned salvation army or goodwill, while it won't look as pretty or be as trendy, they are always a good neighborhood asset, even in a place like modern day park slope.

*r*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at February 13, 2009 10:58 AM

"Retail rents in the area are going to have to start going down soon, no? There are a gazillion vacancies on Flatbush right now. GMAP

Yo Brownstoner hey Asshead let me help you. This due to a collapsing Mutant Asset Bubble! The Time-Space Continuum is repairing itself. There is no more Lithium crystals to power the Reality Distortion Machine and the Asset Price Anti-Gravity machine has been shut off.

Here Brownstoner have some skittles.

The What

Someday this war is gonna end...

Posted by: Return of The What at February 13, 2009 11:00 AM

that new postal store just opened up around St. Marks on flatbush which is great because the one by the BQ stop closed a month or so ago. And that shitty chinese place next to flatbush farm is going to be a wine/liquor store. We really dont need another one of those. But I guess these are good things to open because there was no where to get stamps anywhere and people like to drink.

Posted by: Santa at February 13, 2009 11:03 AM

I know it goes against your LL=evil theme; but most retail failures are hardly attributable to high rent....think about it.....if this store signed a lease at the absolute PEAK of the market and was paying $6,000 a month in rent (which would be way high for a store that size on 5th Ave), and the LL dropped the rent by HALF.....it would amount to $100 a day.....hardly major mullah in a store where the average item is probably over $50. Does rent matter - sure but if the difference between opening and closing is a few thousand a month - then frankly the store isnt going to make it anyway.

Posted by: fsrg at February 13, 2009 11:08 AM

sometimes stores like these close because the only employees are the owners and they arnt making enough money to live.

Posted by: Santa at February 13, 2009 11:18 AM

"bring back a nice old fashioned salvation army or goodwill"

You are in luck. There is a Salvation Army on Flatbush and Bergen. Indeed, as you no doubt know, there are several used clothing stores on 5th.

"Does rent matter - sure but if the difference between opening and closing is a few thousand a month - then frankly the store isnt going to make it anyway."

I think you overestimate the margins that these places operate under. 20-30k per year can make or break a lot of small businesses.

Posted by: northsloperenter at February 13, 2009 11:19 AM

the salvation army on Atlantic is awesome. Also the goodwill downtown somewhere is great as well.

Posted by: Santa at February 13, 2009 11:23 AM

northsloperenter - I may have overstated my point a bit, but lets be realistic - if you are an owner/operator of a retail store, working 6-7 days a week, with 10's of (if not hundreds of) thousands of dollars invested in your physical store plus inventory, and your margin of 'error' is less than 20K, you are not long-term viable. Sure you might last a few more years, but fashion, economy, expenses, demographics, change and shift and you better be able to absorb a 20K turn (either in higher expenses or lower sales) or its only a matter of time before you fold.

Posted by: fsrg at February 13, 2009 11:31 AM

Sure, the market has something to do with it, but frankly the reason that this store failed is much simpler. It wasn't a very good store. I used to live a few doors down and they didn't have many customers. The clothes were kind of crappy and at some point they started selling flowers. Not fancy arrangements, but bodega-style arrangements. It was just a weird place. I'm amazed it lasted this long.

Posted by: gigabutz at February 13, 2009 11:41 AM

The liquor store taking over the chinese food place is moving from a few storefronts over - Garry's Wine and Liquor.

Posted by: infinitejester at February 13, 2009 11:45 AM

I'm all for more thrift shops. Salvation Army has been closing locations in Brooklyn and Manhattan. The one on Fifth in the South Slope and the one in Bay Ridge both closed in the last few years. Housing Works opened on Montague, though. Until then there wasn't a "real" thrift shop in Brooklyn Heights/Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens/Gowanus/Central Slope.

Posted by: Carol Gardens at February 13, 2009 11:47 AM

There was just an article recently that the Montague Street Housing Works brought in over a million dollars in this past year...their first year open.

I really think they should consider a location on 7th Avenue. 5th already has a couple good thrift/vintage stores, and something like Housing Works with a bit more of an upscale selection would be a perfect fit, I think.

I also think Buffalo Exchange should consider a location on 5th Avenue.

Posted by: 11217 at February 13, 2009 11:51 AM

I'm pretty sure the Salvation Army on Bergen/Flatbush is an exporter of goods to Salvation Armys elsewhere.

I've made several donations to them, and there donation room is always full of stuff, and periodically a very large truck will come by and load up all the recent donations and take them off to somewhere else.

I guess the north slope/prospect heights area has more donors than buyers.

Posted by: northsloperenter at February 13, 2009 11:51 AM

"I guess the north slope/prospect heights area has more donors than buyers."

Possibly. The Beacon's Closet on 5th Avenue and Warren (which just moved into a space twice as large as their former one at 5th and President) is doing terrific business.

I do a lot of shopping there, and the people there said that they are having an incredible year.

They just do clothes/shoes though...

Posted by: 11217 at February 13, 2009 11:58 AM

11217 -- I believe they carry better merchandise than the Salvation Army and provide a more comfortable shopping experience, which would explain why people in the neighborhood prefer to shop there.

The neighborhood definitely has customers looking for used clothing as it is both green and arguably hip, but the SA fails badly on the hip-o-meter -- especially since some of what they are selling is my old stuff!

Posted by: northsloperenter at February 13, 2009 12:15 PM

They definitely carry better merchandise. I've tried to give the SA on Flatbush a couple tries, and it's always horrible.

I'm convinced they must pick through and either keep the "good stuff" for themselves or maybe sell it off to other vintage stores.

I've been to other SA's in other parts of the country and they are much better....I've found some really great finds at a fraction of the cost of the price of Beacon's Closet merchandise. But Beacons consistently has a great selection, and the turnover is quite fast due to their obvious success.

Posted by: 11217 at February 13, 2009 12:21 PM

no the problem are the professional clothing clutchers who invade all the salvation army and take all the good stuff to sell at their over priced boutiques. that's the reason you dont really see good stuff. or maybe most people don't like to donate good stuff. i dont know, ive found some funky in many salvation armies (most of my fur coat collection comes from the salvation army!)

*r*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at February 13, 2009 12:42 PM

When meeting with prospective tenants to rent out my store I had expected to come across put-together entrepeneurs. Well I did meet a few, but I would have to say that many of the prospective shopkeepers I came across seemed like folks that hadn't had such good luck in other job markets.

As far as Brooklyn Thrift Stores go, I think the best bet near downtown would have to be the Goodwill on Livingston St. Salvation Army-wise, the one on Atlantic near downtown. Years ago I used to donate stuff to the Salvation Army on Downing St. in Clinton Hill. It was kind of creepy to go there because the sea of crack viles on the side walk. Made it like walking on bbs. I love shopping at a big Thrift Store. So much more variety than other stores.

Posted by: Bessie at February 13, 2009 12:50 PM

The charity thrift stores do not sell the items doated at the same location. I was told they take all donations to a central place and then allocate to the retail locations.

Posted by: BH76 at February 13, 2009 1:13 PM

what is the rent on a space that size?

Posted by: troll at February 13, 2009 2:36 PM

i mainly buy t-shirts at SA and goodwill and have found a few good ones for a buck that would have went for 15 at beacons.

you just have to be patient.

also I just looked at the liquor store sign and whoever said it was Gary's is right. Wonder whats going into the old Gary's.

Posted by: Santa at February 13, 2009 3:14 PM

From what I understand, the Pintchik people own a ton of the buildings on Flatbush...many of which seem to be recently vacated.

I thought I heard that they are purposely getting rid of some the rather crappy places, in the hopes of attracting a few larger and more upscale stores to the area. I've already put in a request for a Restoration Hardware.

I'm not saying Gary's is crappy at all. They are great. I'm referring to the check cashing places, etc etc.

Posted by: 11217 at February 13, 2009 3:27 PM

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