Thursday, August 31, 2017

[Updated] Starbucks opened today on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place



This location made the end-of-summer deadline by opening today...



The posted hours are 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. during the week... until 10 p.m. on weekends.

This location features a mural by Brooklyn-based artist Misha Tyutyunik, a custom piece that flows across three walls. According to the Starbucks newsroom, this collaboration was made possible via the East Village-based Citizens for the Arts.


[Image via Starbucks]

As previously reported, this wasn't a case where business was off and Nino's, the previous tenant, had to close. The pizzeria had to close on Oct. 21, 2015, due to a gas leak in the building. On Nov. 17, Nino's received an eviction notice. Owner Nino Camaj had said that the gas was shut off in the building without any notice to him.

In late November 2015, Camaj's lawyers were reportedly in discussion with landlord Citi Urban Management to dispute the rent charged for the month during which they weren't open due to the gas leak. Camaj still had 10 years left on his lease, and had been in court with the landlords.

He accepted a buyout in February 2016, after having been closed for nearly five months. Camaj told DNAinfo that he could no longer afford the $14,500 monthly rent. (Not to mention court expenses.) Camaj said that the rent for the corner space was $3,500 when he first opened in 1989. Starbucks is reportedly paying upwards of $40,000 a month for the space.

Updated 7:30

Today was apparently a soft opening with an early closing. An EVG reader stopped by early this evening to find it closed until tomorrow.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Starbucks confirmed for Avenue A

At the 'Not Another Starbucks Rally'

35 comments:

Anonymous said...

Never setting foot in this location. And casting the evil eye to those inside.

Anonymous said...

It's awful that the Misha Tyutyunik and Citizens for the Arts would create a mural for this Starbucks given that the previous tenant was clearly forced out. I will not be supporting this artist or this organization in the future. I would love to hear what both have to say for themselves.

JQ LLC said...

Follow the money in Citizens for the arts, all these non-profits do is profit. Same with the more shady Public Art Fund.

As for this Starbucks, I have never seen such a foreboding storefront. Those columns and the black doors look like as if it was a cafe inside a gulag.
Hell, I always shoot the disdainful stink eye when I pass any of these Starbucks as well as all these pretentious LLC open air bars and sidewalk hogging al fresco restaurants. I'm looking at one right now...

chris flash said...

$40,000 rent per month means that they must take in $1,333 a day, not including overhead like salaries, utilities, insurance or coffee, just to cover rent.

A deep-pocketed corporate interloper can sustain such an extreme operating expense for only so long if NO ONE patronizes them.

BOYCOTT THE BASTARDS and they will have to LEAVE!!

Anonymous said...

Umm the past tenant was not forced out. They got a 6 figure check to break there lease and leave early. I don't know what all the huff is about. Glad the corner is not empty and the crusties will be pushed away. Starbucks is not he devil. They have great benefits for their employees like tuition reimbursement. Take a breath and be glad it's not another bar.

Anonymous said...

Go Starbucks! I can't wait to get my next Frappachino there

Anonymous said...

I am sick and tired of hearing the petulant, negative, and useless comments on this thread. Guess what? Starbucks is here. Get over it. Grow up. Seriously. If you don't want to patronize that location or any other location, don't go. Its simple. But for those of us who happen to like it, let us enjoy it.

Breathe. It will be all right. The world won't stop turning. And yes, thank you 7:39; they weren't thrown out. I know they did receive a healthy sum of money because I have a contact with the former pizzeria, who helped them happily exit with their pockets full of cash. No one was in misery. And guess what, I know of someone who is employed at Starbucks. They have tuition reimbursement, insurance, vacation, discounts, and tips atop their salaries. I say yes to Starbucks. Beats having another Bro bar. Best of luck to this location. Will stop in soon!

BagelGuy said...

I am going to single handedly put this place out of business. I have things in store for these guys that they can't imagine. Anything they can do Mom and Pops can do a whole lot better. They're about to get schooled.

Anonymous said...

7:39 & 7:54 - dumb & dumber

sophocles said...

Starbucks gets credit for being at the front of the coffee revolution in this country. Who knew that people would pay twice as much for a better cup of coffee if you also gave them a nice place to sit? I'm not a fan, I think years ago they fell behind the coffee curve, but I don't get particularly bothered by them either, except when I'm at Penn Station, and there are long lines of people getting their coffee fix. And I don't like it when they approach me on line to take my order.
They don't franchise Starbucks, and Schultz seems to think according to his now 20-year-old book that their home-grown coffee culture leads to baristas sharing their passion for coffee with the customer. I've never seen a drop of passion-sharing, and for sure the baristas can't make a decent cappuccino by current standards.
They probably have to sell 9k or so of coffee a day to turn a profit on a 40K per month rent, which means 3 drinks or so every minute (assuming an average drink costs over $3)...

Scuba Diva said...

Starbucks is reportedly paying upwards of $40,000 a month for the space.

That says it all. Landlord knew he could send his kids to college a lot easier if $tarbucks was his commercial tenant, so he turned off the gas on Nino. Say no more, say no more.

Giovanni said...

@ScubaDiva. The landlord isn't using the money to send his kids to college. The kids will inheriit enough money so they will never have to work a real job. The landlord is probably using the Starbucks money to send his kids to Bloomingdales, the Bahamas and Band Camp. If there's any change left over, and I'm sure there will be, they can buy thie kids a sense of compassion and kinship with their fellow man. Just kidding, they will probably blow it all on a shopping spree in Paris and an oversized yacht full of coke snorting rappers and Eastern European supermodels, just like everyone else who has too much time and money on their hands. See you at Starbucks!

Anonymous said...

I do not like Green Eggs and Ham-or Starbucks coffee...
So far the best cup of coffee I have had are at 9th St. Espresso. Blue Stone and Three Chairs also on Avenue A--those Aussies know how to do coffee sooooooo well! when is Seattle -20 years ago--still did not like Starbucks--but if they come out with a Pumpkin Spice Impeach #45 beverage--I might have to go support them...

Scuba Diva said...

That's the whole thing about Starbucks: I don't like their coffee at all. It's too french-roasty, and seriously, I can make better, cheaper cold brew at home. Or I can get a refill—bring your own cup—of cold-brew for a dollar at Porto Rico, who has a store just two blocks away from this Starbucks. (Why pay more?)

Vote with your wallet, people; and if I didn't live across the park and if I didn't foresee long bathroom lines for this Starbucks, I'd use their bathroom just out of spite.

Anonymous said...

Great a hang out for wi fi hogs and the sofa echelon try to get a seat ha ha ha

Anonymous said...

This location is probably intended as a los- leader. $40K to be hip enough for Tompkins Square Heights. Think of the corporate photos bombing opportunities alone! SBUX in background of photos taken from the Tompkins playground...up and down Ave A and St Marks, etc etc. All the movies shot around here they get free advertising...as sir mix-a-lot put it, Seattle ain't bullshittin'

Anonymous said...

That gas leak BS is what they used to kick out the lost lamented Stage.

Starbucks and other mega chains aren't just interested in per store profit, they have an overall strategy of growth to maximize stock price etc. This store is an investment in all that.

As long as the city doesn't protect small businesses, competing in this environment is impossible. Owners lawyer up, like The Stage did, but in the end, with legal fees, it isn't practical.

Anonymous said...

Now aren't we a big shot with a friend in the pizza game?

JJM said...

i don't go to any starbuck's because i dislike the coffee and the vibe. that being said, guess what? we live in a capitalist society where the free markets enables both smart entrepreneurs to start small businesses and succeed AND allows landlords to rent to get market rates on rent. works both ways.

sam_the_man said...

On the plus side the crusties will finally have their own bathroom.

Anonymous said...

@ 8:13 PM
I'm just as tired people telling those against the invasion of corporate chains stores and restaurants on our neighborhood to shut up. If the nation were as passive as you suggest there would be no anti-trump rallies, women's rights rallies, etc.... The EV just lost 3 store fronts which could have been rented to independent businesses. A chance for individuals or families to create a future and possibly wealth. Starbucks sends it's profits back to the mothership and will provide minimum wage to those it employs. Starbucks at this location tells every landlord in the neighborhood that $40,000 rents are possible so do whatever it takes to empty your commercial spaces and wait to hook a big chain company. There are 2 more Starbucks within blocks of this one on 1st Ave. They are well represented already, this one is not needed. I can't speak for anyone but myself but I moved to this neighborhood to escape the sameness and blandness which is most of America, nowadays I'm swimming in it. If anyone gives a shit about where they live please do not step foot in this place, not even to use the bathroom, support independent businesses or lose them forever.

Anonymous said...

Make your own coffee at home the way you like it. Buy a thermos. Save 1000 bucks a year. Need a bathroom when you are out and about? Use the thermos after you are done. You'll never go to Starbucks again!

Anonymous said...

All these hysterical snowflakes are just ridiculous. Don't like Starbucks? Don't go in. I don't like Starbucks because their coffee is burned and bitter and I get by just fine. It's just another storefront to pass by.

But there are people who do like their coffee for some unbelievable reason. It's less mind boggling than Domino's pizza, but those confused souls have a right to their shitty coffee, just like Starbucks is free to rent as many stores as they see fit. It's called living in a free society. Look it up someday.

Downtowner said...

I wonder if they'll have a LESHKO Variety in the Starbucks Reserve section?

Anonymous said...

I am rooting for our neighborhood bagel guy and will do what I can to assist.

Cosmo said...

Ninth Street Espresso is always a positive experience - nice people and good coffee. Southern Cross on 5th Street has the best tasting coffee (IMO) and the vibe in there is great. Porto Rico serves up a top notch cup, but my main reason for going there is the SMELL. OMG! Heaven.

Anonymous said...

BagelGuy is gonna bring da pain to da 'bucks! Yeah, booooooyeeeeeee.

Anonymous said...

I think what the Starbucks defenders don't get is that the previous tenant was effectively forced to take a buyout because the landlord did not repair a gas leak that kept him from operating, and the landlord got away with that. Notice the gas leak was repaired once the tenant left, and now it's all safe and sound for Starbucks.

I don't blame Starbucks for swooping in. It easily could have been the Gap or Dunkin' Donuts.

But it isn't acceptable that our city allows landlords to mess with small business owners this way. Imagine if it was your brother or sister's business that got manipulated this way? Would you be okay with this?

It's not fair. No small business owner has a shot in this city anymore.

StarFucks said...

People are also forgetting how Starbucks screwed Mee Noodles out of returning to their original location by swoopping in right before the lease was signed and stealing the space away. Mee was a neighborhood institution, luckily they found a landlord with a heart and got a location a few doors down, but the history of Starbucks is they don't care who gets hurt on their quest for global domination. If Starbucks doesn't respect the community then why should the community respect Starbucks?

Anonymous said...

If their coffee is, on average, about $3. it's only 400ish coffees a day, 16 hour day, that's 25 an hour, or less than one each 2 mins.

It's more than doable...

Avenue Ecch said...

Nino's was a go-to and an institution, and is sorely missed.
It's a shame that anyone thought it was a good idea to put a Starbucks in this location. So generic, and that's not what this neighborhood's soul is all about.

Anonymous said...

The gas was not only turned off for Nino's it was turned of for the whole building this whole time .How would you like to live in a building with no gas for 18 months.It is harrasement and thankfully the new Tenants bills were signed Thur so no tenants have to deal with shady landlords like this who get also a tax incentive to lease these storefronts empty.....Shop small before all the small businesses are gone ..

kb said...

Hear hear!!!

Anonymous said...

10:11am has the right idea.

Buy a coffee maker, a thermos, and a mug to make, transport, and have your own coffee.

Buy a reusuable coffee filter, a stainless steel stirrer, and a sugar tin, and don't use milk or sugar packets, too, for zero carbon imprint : )



Anonymous said...

7:39 PM - actually they are providing a convenient bathroom for the crusties in the park. well, at least they will be providing something of value to the community...