The entire Organic Avenue juice-bar chain abruptly shut down after the business day last Thursday. The company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.
The "closed until further notice" sign arrived the next day at the East Village/Midtown South (MiSo) location on Third Avenue and East Ninth Street. (The message gives the hope that they might return…)
And this week a past-due notice arrived on the front door…
We're curious what the rent is for this modest-sized corner space… the notice puts the monthly rent at $13,583.33. (In total, this OA owes the landlord $27,838.33 for September and October rent… as well as the water and sewer bill.)
A Forbes columnist shared some thoughts on the OA story yesterday, if you're interested.
Serial entrepreneur Doug Evans launched Organic Avenue fifteen years ago with partner Denise Mari out of Mari’s Lower East Side apartment. In 2013, Mari and Evans sold Organic Avenue to investment firm Weld North, who hired a former Pret A Manger executive to oversee operations.
And!
In many cases, years or months, after a startup is bought out, the company is closed. Others think they can do it better, but the truth is that no one knows your business like you do. Founders are the heart of any small business. Their passion keeps the lights on, and corporate executives or large sums of capital can never replace the blood, sweat, tears that founders put into their startups.
With this closure, the strip of storefronts on the west side of Third Avenue between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street looks even sadder … just two businesses remain open — the UPS store and an eyebrow salon.
Keep an eye on that Duane Reade on the East 10th Street corner expanding.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Organic Avenue is calling it quits (18 comments)
And of course the whole block is made even more appealing by the sidewalk shed, which really adds that certain 'come-hither' allure.
ReplyDeletethe one on bleecker is closed too
ReplyDeleteNO sympathy for this yuppie-shit chain that caused small businesses along Bleecker (Bway - Crosby) and Third Avenue to get pushed out of their storefronts.
ReplyDeleteA mayor and city council that gave a shit would NOT allow tax write-offs for landlords who evict small businesses, only to get stuck with empty spaces.....
Omg, may Liquidteria be next? Please. These places make no sense.
ReplyDeleteThe one on Hudson Street is also closed and backed up on 2-3 months rent.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to tell whether there are stores on that stretch beyond the rows of homeless camped out under that scaffolding
ReplyDelete