Since the arrival of the "for lease" sign on Plantworks back in 2012, it was only a matter of time before the shop would close.
Jeremiah Moss reported yesterday that the 40-year-old Plantworks at 28. E. Fourth St. between the Bowery and Lafayette will shut down at the end of this month.
Why? The rent has gone up from $15k to $34k a month.
Meanwhile, the outdoor garden center, perfectly suited for a new hotel or condo, will stay open until the end of June.
In 2009, the Voice named it the city's Best Plant Shop.
No word yet on the new tenant for the indoor Plantworks space.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Plantworks 'probably closing and not moving'
8 comments:
I think what killed Plantworks was that they charge 3 times as much as any other place in the city for their plants.
OH OF COURSE.
There is practically nothing left to EVgrieve at this point.
Uh, yeah, what the first Anonymous said. I went there once because I wanted to support neighborhood businesses, but after goggling the prices at Saifee, Home Depot, etc. for healthier-looking plants, I realized I wuz robbed. Granted, prices probably reflected rent, but still, that's just unsustainable. Hate to see Amazon and the big boxes killing off neighborhood old-timers, but people aren't gonna pay more for less.
I never found them out of line on prices vs other non big box places. I spoke to who I think is the owner a few months ago, even back then he wasnt optimistic, citing the repeal of the 80/20 rule as the reason for the rent going up.
NYU is set to build on the outside lot, constructing an extension to their building at the SW corner of East 4th & Lafayette.
34,000 x 12 = $408,000 = an insane amount for a business to generate..
$1,117 a day just for rent.
The cheapest plant there was around 30 bucks for a small guy. Wanted to like and support them all these years. Couldn't do it.
Sad to see them go. They always donated their leftover pointsettas to our church. (We're on the Julian calendar and celebrate Christmas on January 7.) This year's flowers were particularly beautiful. Hope they can set up shop somewhere else.
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