From outside the usual EVG coverage zone over at Broadway and Prince... EVG reader Robert Miner shared this photo from yesterday. The flagship location (circa 1988) of Dean & Deluca is now temporarily closed.
There have been reports of empty shelves here in recent months (see Gothamist and Eater).
Per Eater on Aug. 20:
Despite its dreary appearance, floor manager Mohammed Rahman says the store isn’t closing but rather undergoing renovations. Several signs that read “Please pardon our appearance as we prepare for renovations” are now strung about the store, located at 560 Broadway at Prince Street. Rahman says he hasn’t been told much about the renovations or when they’re supposed to start.
There isn't any mention of a renovation on the above-sign for patrons — just some "deep regret" about the temporary closing.
As you've been reading in recent months, Dean & Deluca, the iconic gourmet grocer, is on the brink of financial collapse. Complete collapse may be imminent. As of now, only two locations — both in Honolulu — are listed on the Dean & Deluca website.
I'm guessing "temporarily closed for renovations" means "closed permanently". I hope I'm wrong.
ReplyDeleteIf they close permanently, another piece of New York is gone. Dean and Deluca are an icon and deserves to stay. Hopefully, they won't fade due to rising rents.
ReplyDeleteNYC commercial rents have been declining significantly for the past 2 years. They are not re-opening.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why places that are closing do this "closed for renovations" thing, is it just wishful thinking?
ReplyDeleteDean & Delucawas unique in its day but most of what they had is available throughout the city now. Soho is overwhelmed with tourists and New Yorkers who used to travel to D&D won’t step a foot in there today.
ReplyDeleteI sure miss their coffee bar, back when it used to be on Prince (and Wooster?) Near "Food".
ReplyDeleteHeck, I even miss when it used to be on University Pl.
used to pop into Dean & Deluca regularly but after Soho morphed into an upscale suburban shopping mall overrun with hordes of tourists haven’t stepped foot in there in years but sad to hear it’s closing (I don’t believe the “temporary” whatsoever)
ReplyDeleteThe reason D&D is closing is because they stopped paying their vendors months and months ago, which is why for months now they’ve only been able to purchase and sell product widely available to anyone (as opposed to all their delicious comestibles, sundries and flowers from days of yore) effectively making them just a glorified deli in a super prime location.
ReplyDeleteD&D was sold a while back to a Thai company called Pace Development so it hasn’t been “the same” for a while now... Che peccato...
I used to go down to SoHo all the time, to the D&D main store and also to the old Dean & Deluca Cafe on Prince Street which was one of the great large cafes of its time. Canal Jeans was also a destination, back when there were still more art galleries than chain stores. But today you couldn't pay me to go to SoHo on the weekends. The hordes of tourists shopping for the latest collectible sneakers, or for overpriced skankware from the Kardashians makes it absolutely unbearable. There are so many people on the sidewalks that they end up spilling out in the street, and it feels like like Times Square. There was a nice, tiny little coffee shop with a bench outside near the Apple Store that recently closed down, and it the last vestige of a simpler time.
ReplyDeleteDean & Deluca was a gourmet store when so few existed. A place to get unique grocery and prepared foods. It was specialty foods at a high level. It was a place for great coffee/espresso, fruits, specialty meats, fish, etc. Imported items. Other stores competed and dumbed down this unique retail category.
ReplyDelete