Three Chain Stores Close On Smith Street

Tea Two on 140 Smith Street

MAC at 165 Smith Street now closed

Closed Lucky Jeans at 135 Smith Street

We have all been lamenting the closing of mom and pop stores on Smith and Court Streets here in the the Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill and Carroll Gardens area. And indeed, we have lost many individually owned businesses on our two main shopping strips as chain stores and/or franchises have taken over the spaces.

It was therefore interesting to notice that three chain stores have recently closed on Smith Street alone: Tea Too, MAC and Lucky Jeans.

Tea Too, or simply T2, originally opened at 140 Smith Street in late in 2015, It closed its doors just last week. The premium tea chain was founded in Australia almost twenty years ago. During this time, the company expanded to New Zealand, London and recently in Soho, New York.
This particular location was their first in Brooklyn.
If you will miss their tea, they still have a few Manhattan locations.

MAC, the cosmetic chain, moved into the area in 2016 and occupied a large corner retail space at 165 Smith Street.  We never saw too many customers in the place and always wondered if there was enough foot traffic in the neighborhood to make it viable.
Perhaps we were right, because the store just closed several weeks ago,

Lucky Jeans, the apparel store, moved into 135 Smith Street around 2010, and seemed to be doing well. We were therefore surprised to see it's doors closed just recently. 

If even chain stores, with their deeper pockets are having a tough time making it on Smith Street, we can imagine more retailers closing. with most people purchasing online these days, there simply isn't enough foot traffic in the area to sustain these businesses.

What do you think? What businesses could successfully replace these three?

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From Australia To Brooklyn: 'T2"' Opens On Smith Street

Tea Too, or simply T2, a premium tea chain was founded in Australia almost twenty years ago.  During this time, the company opened close to 60 stores and has expanded to New Zealand, London and recently in Soho, New York.   Just three weeks ago, a T2 shop opened right here in Brooklyn at 140 Smith Street.
The store is filled with brightly colored boxes filled with classic tea blends, as well as some wonderfully unusual ones like  "Just Lemon Myrtle", "Caramel Coco", "Banana Bake" or  "Madagascan Vanilla".
Buy the tea loose, in teabags, or try one of their assortment packs.
The store also features several teasets.
There are always some warm teas to sample, so stop on by.
If you are looking for a holiday present, one of these tea boxes makes a great stocking stuffer.

140 Smith Street was previously the home of boutique Intermix.  before that, it housed restaurant Saul.



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