Thursday, April 05, 2012

Did Owner Of "Green Onion" Children's Boutique On Smith Street Simply Walk Away?

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I have to admit that at first, I did not even take notice of the fact that every time I walked by Green Onion, the children's boutique at 274 Smith Street, the store was closed when it should have been open for business.
Then, last week, I was told by someone who has talked to the landlord,d that Green Onion's owner has simply disappeared and has left the fully stocked store behind.  It would appear that she owes back rent. Apparently,  the landlord is awaiting the City's approval to enter the store and rent it out to a new tenant!
Very strange. I just tried calling the store's telephone number, but it has been disconnected.
It is hard to imagine that a well-established children's store in this child-friendly neighborhood couldn't make it.  Even harder to imagine that the owner would not at least try to sell off the rest of the stock.
Does anyone have additional information?


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7 comments:

gilhodges said...

We always called the place the Mean Onion because of the unfriendly, unhelpful service. Admittedly, I haven't stepped in the place since the mid-2000s when my kid was younger, but it was an unpleasant place to visit back then.

Anonymous said...

The 'Mean Onion' was under a different owner. That's why there's been a 'Under New Management' sign in the window for the last seven or so years. The owner left due to irreconcilable differences with the landlord AND the previous owner, to whom she still had some obligations.

Anonymous said...

A few weeks ago they had a major sale with signs up. I thought it unusual, but it appears it only last a day and they did not sell everything.

Mom said...

Thanks for posting -- I was wondering what was going on there. I agree with gilhodges; the sales people were always way too pushy there.

Mom said...

thanks for the post -- I'd been wondering what was happening there. And I agree with gilhodges; the sales people there were always too pushy.

Anonymous said...

I shopped in the Green Onion a few times over the past three years. The staff were always friendly enough, but extremely pushy. I didn't feel welcome to browse, so I didn't return.

Anonymous said...

I've bought many gifts here; sometimes the staff was a bit flakey, but never especially pushy. What's more interesting/disheartening is the revolving number of empty storefronts on Smith Street -- Court, too. Rents keep going up for both residential and commercial spaces, obviously residents and merchants can't meet them, then there's turnover. But the prices never decrease. I'm hoping there's some decent residential space in Gowanus in the coming years because I know it's only a matter of time till I'm priced out of my CG apt. Sunset Park seems too far, and Red Hook too remote if you don't own a car! Friends of a friend -- a married couple with two kids -- just rented a place on the Upper East Side because it was more affordable than Park Slope. Crazy!