After nearly four years on the corner of Fourth Avenue and 12th Street, the PokéSpot has closed. A for rent sign hangs in the front window. (Thanks to EVG reader Sheila for the photo!) They had not been open since the COVID-19 PAUSE.
The PokéSpot arrived in the summer of 2016 in a time of NYC's poke-sanity.
The poké market has thinned out a bit since then with the closure of PokéVillage on 14th Street in 2018 and now the PokéSpot.
Previously on EV Grieve:
The PokéSpot set for former Subway (sandwich shop) space on 4th Avenue
8 comments:
Damn. I really liked this place. The level of customer service at the counter was often hit or miss, but the quality and freshness of the product was delicious and consistent. I also enjoyed the clean and modern feel of the spot in addition to its proximity to my apartment. I am afraid this is only the very beginning of more businesses to close in 2020. What a year thus far. Our new normal :(
I stopped going there when they stopped taking cash.
I did not see this place lasting long... strictly flavour of the month! Insert current fad, stand fashionable in line, repeat, and wait for the chirping crickets. Cronuts, craft fried chicken, what have you... all gone to the big trend basket in the sky!
What? A diminishing culinary fad leaving another empty storefront? That block of 4th Avenue sure has it tough — gone are the overpriced fruity beverage place; the franchise sandwich joints; and of course, a string of failed concepts that fizzled in the clock building. What's durable? Or is this just now part of the business cycle, the coming-and-going of trends? Almost makes me want to empathize with the landlords who have to suffer through the lean times.
Almost.
I will never emphasize with landlords in NYC. Most I have interacted or done business with were/are beyond greedy and/or inaccessible if a problem arises/arose. Yet, they are front and center on the first of each month to collect funds. The central issues for these impending closures and vacancies are enormous rents, apathy, unrealistic expectations and lack of foot traffic, especially now given the weight of this creeping pandemic. Potential merchants who sign on the dotted line without doing their homework on the building owner, the realty company, the neighborhood, its inhabitants or its fellow competitors are in for an utter shock. Look around us. There were numerous empty spaces which have continued for well over a decade. We are situated in this new normal indefinitely until there is a vaccination and a better economic outlook without surging unemployment. I fail to understand how or why someone would chose to sign a lease and offer a product or a service in 2020 anywhere in Manhattan no less when many are hurting and are unable to float above water. Lean times indeed. One day at a time.
This was already one of the weirdest trends. I'm sure poke is delightful when prepared at home or in a good restaurant, but "quick inexpensive raw fish" is just not that appealing a proposition.
We looked at half a dozen spots on 4th Ave for our second location before settling in at 184 2nd Ave. Nothing on that strip could be had for less than 40,000 per month. In this case, greedy landlords are at fault. Poke Spot actually had a decent rent because it was a coop run commercial space so you can't blame the landlord in this case. The other spots like Liquiteria, Sandwichere, ..... Yeah, blame the landlord.
I really liked this place, although I always resented how they switched to blows that were 2/3 of the size a few months after they opened and got good reviews. They'll be missed.
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