Since then, the storefront has been sitting empty with a 'for rent' sign attached to the gate.
Yesterday morning, a local resident wrote to us to let us know that a crew was currently working on the the space. When he inquired as to what sort of business would be moving in, he was told 'a nail salon."
I checked it out myself yesterday and sure enough, one of the people inside the store confirmed that a 'nail spa' would be occupying the space.
I know, I know...not the kind of news we all wanted. There is such a proliferation of nail salons/spas all around the neighborhood that one really has to wonder how they can ALL be profitable and how they can pay the kind of rents that are forcing other kinds of businesses to close their doors.
How incredibly depressing this is becoming, don't you think?
For those who have lived here for a while, do you remember Cristardi's pizzeria, which operated out of the small retail space behind Clinton Apothecary on President Street? Their brick oven pizza was excellent.
How is this depressing in the least? If you ALL wanted a different sort of store, a different sort of store would open, because you ALL would patronize it, and it would make a lot of money.
ReplyDeleteInstead, hard working entrepreneurial immigrants are opening low-impact non-chain stores with low barriers of entry that cater to local residents, and this is something to complain about, and be DEPRESSED about?
We should all be so lucky as to have your problems.
It's very simple: supply and demand. The nail salons proliferate because there is a demand for them. When the neighborhood supply of nail salons outpaces the demand for their services, they will stop popping up.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with the above commentors. The mail salons are always packed with people in the neighborhood. They are popping up for a reason. And I could think of worse types of businesses that I would not care to see in the neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteThey are certainly not all packed with people. I too have long been baffled why there are so many nail salons so I always look in every one I pass. Occasionally I see a single soul in a chair, but most of the time they are all empty, ALL of them, no matter the time. With the low margins in this tip-based business I agree with you this makes no sense: supply and demand is not the reason for the proliferation. And the "different sort of stores" that do open in fact seem to do very well indeed, as long as they're well executed. See the new E1 coffee place, for example. Let's see how its neighbor the new "UBreak" repair store fares. And what are these "worse types of businesses" than nail salons? I think we already have every brand of bank on the planet...
ReplyDeleteThere were plenty of places in the neighborhood that were doing fine until their leases came up and their rent went up over 400%. You need to ask yourself why are there so many empty storefronts on Smith St? Is it because everyone sucks at running a business? It seems to me rent is probably out of alignment with the population of the neighborhood and the foot traffic. Smith St is not nearly as popular as it used be and the more empty storefronts the less foot traffic. There's no grocery store over there anymore so that's had an impact on a lot of businesses. I would also suspect as more places close down more people turn to online shopping.
ReplyDeleteI know this place is over on Clinton St but the rules apply the same. As anonymous 8:48 said, there are a lot of nail places in which there's hardly anyone in them.
HUMAN TRAFFICKING: Nail salons (and 'massage parlors' / Asian spas) do work on supply & demand but they ALSO work with very cheap labor brought here and shifted around the region / country by organized crime groups. This isn't speculation, this is FACT so all the cheery "free market" (sic) capitalist clowns should check themselves.
ReplyDeleteNOW, that said, I am not in a position to criticize these women for the choices they have made, I only hope the conditions of their employment and lives in New York and the U.S. are an improvement of what they left behind and that they will improve-- and then they'll be replaced the next wave of smuggled women.
Rhetorica Q: Why aren't there any black-owned, white ethnic-owned, Latino-owned nail salons in the neighborhood?
p/s-- A LOT of nail salons are also front for organized crime carters.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the majority of the posters.
ReplyDeleteYou liked Clinton Apothecary? Why didn't the majority of you shop there? Why did you go to CVS instead? This goes for the failing Garden Apothecary, too. It's sad to see these places go, but I am thrilled at the thought that something new might open so we don't have yet another vacant storefront.
Yes, it's a shame to see these businesses close, but when something else opens why are you bashing them? It's like you're rooting for failure.
Yes, it is a little sad that the florist became a karate studio and that Marietta became a phone store, but simply for nostalgic reasons. How many people were honestly shopping at Marietta for cotton underwear? And guess what- I had to fix my phone the other day and the people at uBreakiFix couldn't have been nicer. During the hour that I spent waiting for my phone, I saw no fewer than 5 people in there. So there is a demand.
Let's lift each other up, people!
Yes, I remember the pizza place and was sad when it closed - the food was excellent and the ambiance lovely. I was even more sad that they boarded up the windows to that back retail space - it was a nice place to sit and people watch from, and I was hoping something else would utulise them.
ReplyDeletethe pizza place was closed due to "neighbors" complaining of the noise - they are getting what they deserve - another nail salon
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 12:18, my wife and I DID patronize Clinton Apothecary exclusively. Gerard was a prince! You miss or didmiss the factual point that the landlord raised the rent 400%! No it's greed pure and simple that's the root cause of the decimation of small businesses.
ReplyDelete