Sunday, March 9, 2014

[UPDATED] Black Hound New York closes East Village retail location today



As we pointed out on Wednesday, the 26-year-old dessert-cake shop is closing its retail location at 170 Second Ave. near East 11th Street today.

The sign on their window says Black Hound will be open until 10 tonight. (EVG reader Andy, who took this photo, says there wasn't much left for sale. So maybe you call ahead before making a special trip…)

Per the sign:

"The East Village has been out retail home since 1988, and we've seen out neighborhood evolve from eclectic to trendy."

Also, local customers can "still enjoy Black Hound treats" via a delivery service from their Greenpoint bakery. You can also pick up orders by appointment there.

From their Facebook page Wednesday:

We’ll continue connecting with you through Facebook, emails, friends@blackhoundny.com, 800.344.4417, and www.blackhoundny.com. Thanks to our loyal customers and friends for your support!

And back to the sign, which states, "Looking ahead, we want to resume our retail presence in NYC and will seek investors to help us on this journey."

UPDATED 5:54 p.m.
Per our Facebook friends, Black Hound sold out of everything and closed around 5.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Black Hound New York closing Sunday after 26 years in the East Village (26 comments)

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sad.

Anonymous said...

I'm wailing. Got 2 of my favorite cakes on Thursday, went back this afternoon for the last bite of heaven, but there was nothing left :-(

Anonymous said...

Cake by mail is a thriving business model.

Ken from Ken's Kitchen said...

This crappy story isn't unique. Is the city gonna continue to do nothing when successful 26 year old businesses can no longer make rent in the EV?

Giovanni said...

This is so sad. They had one of the nicest windows, you always had to stop and stare and marvel at their creations in wonder. The good news is you can still get some of their mini cakes at The Bean. Hope they come back to the neighborhood with another shop real soon...

Gojira said...

@Ken - apparently all that our wonderful new mayor cares about is universal pre-K and closing charter schools. I guess if it doesn't have to do with kids it's a non-starter in his book.

Anonymous said...

What will be left of the EV in five years?? It's like the bros and hos move in and destroy one area and move onto the next. So sad.

Anonymous said...

Is the new mayor supposed to do something about every business, in the East Village or otherwise, that closes it's doors?

JM said...

Isn't this the bakery from Martha's Vineyard? That opened on 1st Avenue, then closed and reopened in the current space?

Maybe I'm confusing them with someone else. 26 years seems like too long, but time does fly.

Anonymous said...

Uhh... How is the mayor supposed to stop commercial rent hikes exactly? Serious question. And if there is a way, who would decide what businesses get help?

Also, incidentally, he hasn't closed any charter schools (I wish), merely stopped a few from getting free space in public school buildings where space was needed by other schools. Also, all those kid-related policies are about bedrock affordability issues for many struggling New Yorkers. It's not all just fuzzy cute puppy stuff.

Anonymous said...

commercial rent hikes can be stopped by commercial rent control (which won't happen) and/or stop property owners from passing on property taxes to tenants or not allowing such huge increases in property taxes that are usually passed on to commercial tenants

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry but this was the most over rated place I have been to in the neighborhood. It looks pretty but everything I have tried there was old and stale. This doesn't surprise me one bit.

Anonymous said...

Anon 8:53 - Oh it doesn't surprise you one bit? Care to explain how they were in business for 28 years if the everything in there was stale?

Anonymous said...

Anon 10:13 - 28 years is a very good run and I'm sure it used to be good at one point. It seems like they lost the just fire and didn't put in the same effort that got them there. It felt like they were just going through the motions. I don't enjoy seeing businesses go under but I could see the writing on the wall 3 years ago.

Anonymous said...

sad :( i usually pass by at night on the weekends. there's a cute guy that works there.

Ken from Ken's Kitchen said...

11:47 AM

There are things the mayor and city council can do to protect small businesses.

See here:
http://thevillager.com/villager_332/commercialrent.html

And here:
http://www.salon.com/2013/08/31/san_francisco_to_chain_stores_get_out/

Gojira

Coming from a family of teachers, I have little enthusiasm for charter schools or privatization in general and am all for universal pre-K.

De Blasio's only been in office for 3 months. That's not a lot of time to undue the damage wrought by 12 years of Bloomberg.

Anonymous said...

I tried very hard to find the location of The Brooklyn bakery that has Black Hound cakes. But, I'm not sure it still exists, or ever did. Can someone leave a comment, if they were able to get a Blackhound cake at the Brooklyn spot.

Anonymous said...

Got a cake from the brooklyn location a year ago, tried to get one this month but it looks like they went out of business or relocated