Spicy Pickle Loses Its Crunch
That didn’t take long. Six months after opening in the former Armando’s space (of neon lobster sign fame) at 143 Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights, the Spicy Pickle has decided to close its doors, according to the Brooklyn Heights Blog. Evidently the franchise thinks that Long Island will be a better location in this economy…
That didn’t take long. Six months after opening in the former Armando’s space (of neon lobster sign fame) at 143 Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights, the Spicy Pickle has decided to close its doors, according to the Brooklyn Heights Blog. Evidently the franchise thinks that Long Island will be a better location in this economy and is trying to get out of his lease. Was this place any good? GMAP
“Just like the little hardware store across from the Grand Canyon. He owns the building so the odds of him closing are slim.”
I freaking LOVE that hardware store – they have everything you would ever need for your home and they are so helpful and knowledgeable about home repairs. Mr. biatch and I talk all the time about trying to join the Montague BID b/c the mix of stores is atrocious: banks, cell phone stores and real estate firms oh my! The food options are terrible. I never went into Spicy Pickle – it looked unappealing.
I don’t know if the food was good but it definitely seemed overpriced. Paninis and pizzas started at about $8.50. I work in the neighborhood and there are a lot of lunch options, many better priced. It never seemed appealing enough to stop in. Oh well, I hope it doesn’t become one of those “doomed” locations.
“Any smart business person should determine if their sustainable operating profit is close to the sustainable fair market rent – and if they are close – they should either sell their retail business or close up completly and rent it…..” – fsrg
Very true. That’s what happened to Boro Photo.
Verizon Wireless approached them, since they own the building, and offered them $15k a month. They took it and moved above Armando’s for $4k a month, effectively an $11k a month profit.
After a year or so they closed up shop, realizing a $15k profit is a lot better than an $11k a month one.
The rent isnt “insane” for the market – at least the market that has existed for the last decade or so – assuming the store is 2000sq ft it is approximately $130sq ft – which was, as I understand it, the general market price for rent on Montague (and would be a bargain in most of Manhattan)
Anybody know another coffeeshop with free WiFi in the area?
22K is insane, but remember that salon Tapestry? They were paying 24k/month. Nuts, right?
22K is insane for that space. I can’t believe anyone thought that would be profitable.
That place WAS a franchise, so it may have been approved by the home office, but the owners surely weren’t receiving an financing from the corp… I imagine that they had to pay a hefty franchise fee, too.
No one gave these operators their buildings – they undoubtably negotiated a fair market rent however long ago and then enjoyed a business robust enough to pay their rent and also support buying out their LL later.
That being said – the fact that they do not have to “worry about rent increases” is only true to an extent. Any smart business person should determine if their sustainable operating profit is close to the sustainable fair market rent – and if they are close – they should either sell their retail business or close up completly and rent it…..what person in their right mind would run a retail business (probably the most demanding of all businesses) when they could make the same or more simply net leasing out the location….that is obviously what Armandos figured out – although I just hope (for his sake) that he didnt figure that Spicy Pickle was a sustainable tenant.
i tried spicy pickle a few times. each time they got my order wrong and i told the owner and he kept asking for another chance. after the 4th wrong order – i stopped going. i thought the sandwiches were good – never tried the pizza. they opened at a tough time in a tough market. the lunch crowd has also slowed down with a lot of folks bringing their own lunches to work.