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June 20, 2008
The $29,000 Question: Big Box Watch on Flatbush Ave
A couple of days ago the mystery was revealed: the new tenant in the space occupied for years by beloved local video rental store Video Edge is gonna be...ta da! T-Mobile.
Just what we need! Mr. Won Ton is ecstatic that he now has five choices of mobile phone stores within a five minute stroll of his front door--who needs a butcher when you've got extra minutes?
The scuttlebutt at the recent North Flatbush Avenue BID meeting is that T-Mobile is paying $29,000 a month rent on this sucker, or about four times what Video Edge had to cough up.
(Mr. WonTon misses Andy and Rommel of VE...who had such great taste, not to mention a massive collection of his favorite old skool martial arts flicks.)
My $29,000 question is: How is it that T-Mobile can afford to do business on Flatbush and 7th with such high overhead?
Answer (from my local real estate guy): They're bad, they're nationwide! They don't have to make a profit in this location. "It's all about placement. They pay for the visibility."
Hmmm. I guess that's why American Apparel is able to keep going in our old Plaza Twin Cinema by selling a couple of t-shirts a day.
Lots of empty storefronts sitting for a l-o-n-g time on North Flatbush these days...greedy landlords hoping to cash in on the big box store tip, I guess. Hey, we still don't have a Starbucks!
Comments
I am appalled but wish I was the landlord,, brooklyn is becoming like some strip mall in ohio..
Posted by: guest at June 20, 2008 11:52 AM
First of all, T-Mobile is not a big box store. It's a chain, yes.
Secondly, there are about 5 other video stores nearby...one literally right across the street on Flatbush. A new one just went up on 5th. And there are a couple on 7th and a huge blockbuster a block from here on Flatbush. How many video stores do we need in the age of Netflix and Itunes? Seriously...there are more video stores in this area than cell phone stores. Look around dude and don't be a hypocrite.
I admit it's not my favorite choice either, but you are off base on the American Apparel also. One of my good friends works at that location and apparently they do quite well. Something like in the top 10 grossing AA stores in the NYC metro area.
I hate Starbucks, but it would be the best thing for this part of Flatbush.
Posted by: guest at June 20, 2008 12:05 PM
That's idiotic. There are four or five really great locally owned coffee places in this area. Prospect Perk, Joyce, Gorilla Coffee down on 5th. The chains and big boxes coming up on Flatbush are driving out small businesses. Fifth Av is developing nicely but this part of the Slope looks more lke Jersey every day.
Posted by: guest at June 20, 2008 12:25 PM
In case you missed it, Starbucks actually helps most mom and pop coffee shops. They create for a culture of more coffee and more shops. It's a proven fact.
There IS a starbucks a couple blocks from here on 7th, you do realize...?
Didn't Prospect Perk close, anyway?
And actually I'd say this part of the Slope looks more like Manhattan everyday.
I don't spend too much time in Jersey, if you think Park Slope in any way resembles 99% of NJ, you really need to take a step back and appreciate what a beautiful and urban neighborhood this is.
There is Flatbush, 7th, 5th, and more than enough room for the nice charming stuff and a few of these types of stores...
Posted by: guest at June 20, 2008 1:02 PM
we need more video stores like a hole in the head.
if you wanted the place to stay, perhaps you should have rented more videos.
so silly you people.
Posted by: guest at June 20, 2008 2:57 PM
After reading, I need to post: I, too, LOVED that video store - because it was not the same stock that is found at each of the other commercial stores. This was not Blockbuster, it carried inde and interesting films you couldn't find anywhere - not even on Netflicks.
Also: American Apparell is in danger of going bankrupt, and the ceo is under investigation by the fed. Start reading the business section. That store may not be there too long.
Posted by: guest at June 20, 2008 4:14 PM
VIDEO EDGE was great...it was the Kim's Video of Brooklyn.
They did a terrific business, even after the rise of Netflix because the guys who worked there had great taste and took the time to hip their customers to indie and non-mainstream films from all over the world.
They were a business that was part of the COMMUNITY. You remember community, the thing that a lot of people (except maybe 12:05 and 1:02) move to Brooklyn for.
Posted by: WonTon at June 20, 2008 4:36 PM
I happen to know that they are not...I repeat not...paying $29,000.00 in rent.
Posted by: guest at June 20, 2008 5:51 PM
Since you don't even know how to spell American Apparel, I don't think I'll listen to your predictions for their future prospects.
Posted by: guest at June 20, 2008 6:23 PM
i walked by video edge every day for about 7 years.
never once had the desire or need to go in.
i'll be more apt to go into t-mobile and they aren't even my wireless carrier.
Posted by: guest at June 20, 2008 6:25 PM
American Apparel to Be Sold to Investment Firm - New York Times
By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN and MICHAEL BARBARO
American Apparel, the casual clothing chain whose socially conscious manufacturing, sexually charged advertising and snug-fitting T-shirts have generated a cultlike following, will be sold to a little-known investment firm for $382.5 million, according to people briefed on the matter.
The decision to sell the privately held company, expected to be announced today, is a surprise move by the company’s eccentric founder, Dov Charney, who is known for exercising strict, and at times controversial, control over the retailer’s operations.
Mr. Charney, who grew up in Montreal, has personally photographed many of the semi-naked women featured in American Apparel advertising and is known for hiring employees, most of them women, on the spot during telephone calls or at parties.
American Apparel’s buyer, the Endeavor Acquisition Corporation, is a small, publicly traded investment group created last year, with less than $125 million in assets. American Apparel is the firm’s first acquisition — and Endeavor is expected the chain across the globe.
Endeavor Acquisition was founded as a so-called “blank check” firm, intended to buy companies, by Jonathan J. Ledecky, who started U.S. Office Products in 1994, expanding it through 260 acquisitions. U.S. Office Products filed for bankruptcy protection in 2001, a few of years after Mr. Ledecky left.
Mr. Charney, 37, will remain chief executive of American Apparel after the sale, according to people with direct knowledge of the deal, who discussed the transaction on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
American Apparel, founded in 1997 in Los Angeles, quickly became a retail sensation, with 145 stores and Gap-like ubiquity with seven stores in Los Angeles and 15 in New York City.
But its sales have slowed significantly in the last year. At stores open at least a year, a crucial measure in retailing, revenue rose only 7 percent in 2006, compared with 74 percent in 2004 and 45 percent in 2005, according to documents prepared by Endeavor. 2007 was the worst year on record with revenue loss. The sale is to avoid bankruptcy.
Posted by: guest at June 20, 2008 10:25 PM
Holy shit...a company only around for 11 years is being sold for almost 400 MILLION DOLLARS!!!
jeez...sounds impressive to me.
oh and who cares, 10:25?
all stores are suffering. jcpenny, gap, old navy, everything.
what is your point?
many MANY stores are seeing revenue go down these days. i'd say 7% increase is pretty darn good.
you are kinda dumb, aren't ya?
Posted by: guest at June 21, 2008 2:03 PM
"I am appalled but wish I was the landlord,, brooklyn is becoming like some strip mall in ohio.."
Hey, I resent your anti-Ohio comment!
Posted by: guest at June 22, 2008 7:43 PM
I so wanted to one day buy that property for my self where I could sell my clothing , but I couldnt not imagine Paying 29k per month for that spot , but it is a good locaction .
Posted by: brothercool72 at June 22, 2008 11:23 PM
whoever said that place is 29K is sadly mistaken.
i'm really not sure where you got that number from. it's way off base. it's expensive, but it's not anywhere near 29K a month.
Posted by: guest at June 23, 2008 12:45 AM
yeah, too bad about american apparel...
HELL'S KITCHEN & BEYOND—With their Ninth Avenue store now a month old, American Apparel is looking to expand further north and west. Via the company's website, we've discovered that Dov and his merry batch of headband-wearing associates are planning to open stores in Harlem (250 W 125th St between Seventh and Eighth Aves) and on the UWS (2103 Broadway at 73rd St). And of course there's also the pending F.I.T. location at 347 Seventh Ave. Give in, they've won. [RackedWire]
Posted by: guest at June 23, 2008 9:11 PM
Why is it that the landlord is constanly demonized on this site? Oh, I know, it's because the site is full of bitter renters and that landlords are too busy counting their money to give a good god dam what people are writing about here.
signed
Happy landlord
Posted by: guest at June 26, 2008 9:05 AM
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