Updated 4:30 p.m.: Through a spokesperson, ASG Equities, the landlord at 21 Astor, said that they offered Starbucks a lease extension at exactly the same rent:
ASG is appreciative of Starbucks' decades-long tenancy at 21 Astor. We are sad they chose to leave, even as we offered a lease extension that would have allowed them to remain in their existing space at the exact same rent. This corner on top of the Astor Place subway has extensive glass frontage, tremendous signage, and incredible foot traffic. We are quite confident that this space will be of interest to a wide range of community-oriented retailers.
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In case you missed our scoop from yesterday... the Starbucks on Astor Place closed after service last evening.
By early this morning, workers had removed the Starbucks signage and papered over the windows of this retail space they've been in for nearly 30 years.
As of 7 a.m., there was no note to potential patrons about a closure or where to find the nearest Starbucks.
On Saturday, a manager told EVG's Stacie Joy that "the landlords jacked up the rent so astronomically high that even corporate Starbucks couldn't pay it." The manager said that all employees were offered relocation options with other Starbucks. (We also contacted the Starbucks HQ in Seattle for comment.)
This outpost was the 11th Starbucks to open in the city. The spacious 4,000-square-foot SB debuted on March 30, 1995 — a year before the Kmart arrived across Eighth Street. Other key dates in this SB's history: it underwent a major renovation in 2018 ... and unionized in 2022. (The North 7th Street unionized location in Williamsburg closed earlier this summer. We contacted the Starbucks Workers United union as well.)
Regardless of your thoughts about the brand, many people seemed to have a story about this prime people-watching outpost.
While there are ample available storefronts in the immediate area, we'd think that a brand entering the NYC market would want to snap up this high-profile location ... like Raising Cane's, which looks to be doing well since opening last September in the former Walgreens on the opposite corner.
Updated 11:15 a.m.
A statement from a spokesperson at Starbucks:
Effective July 29, 2024, our Lafayette & 8th St store, also known as Astor Place, in Manhattan will close permanently. We have engaged Workers United to collaborate on the next steps, including transfer options, for the 17 partners currently employed at this location.As a standard course of business, we continually evaluate our store portfolio, using various criteria to ensure we are meeting the needs of our customers. We do not take the decision to close stores lightly. Our relationship with our customers is deeply personal, and we are honored to have been on Astor Place. We hope our customers will use the Starbucks Store Locator to find other nearby locations.The closest stores include:• Broadway & Bond – 665 Broadway• NYU 4th & Washington Sq E – 45 West 4th St.• 15th & 3rd – 145 3rd Ave.
28 comments:
Any guesses at to how long this space will be vacant?
good riddance to a corporate behemouth who wanted to save on union labor by closing this location.
I agree! Bring back the Riviera diner. But not if in order to pay the rent they will have to charge exorbitant prices. And speaking of diners with exorbitant prices, what is happening with the Sunflower Diner in the old Kitchen Sink space on 2nd ave and 5th street? Is it even open? Every time I pass by it is closed.
While I still think the closure of this store is due to a host of issues (union, space not in line with post-Covid activity, etc), I do think they will open up a smaller footprint store nearby.
It's also worth mentioning that the Broadway - 8th Street - Astor Place retail situation is in decline. There have been a number of recent closures including &Pizza, Sunglass Hut, Body Shop, Lids, Vitamin Shop, etc. Not to mention all of the empty space on the west side of Broadway between 8th and 9th - except for the Staples - everything else is empty - and most (except the former HSBC) of it has been empty since the big fire in that building over 5 years ago.
Keep in mind The Famous Cozy Soup 'n' Burger, which is still open very close by at 739 Broadway.
Speaking of exorbitant prices: Sunflower has opened for business but is leaning into “brekkie “ and closes at 5:00 PM, not open for dinner. A simple eggs/potatoes dish is running about $22. Don’t expect it to last for long unless they’re surviving on the cocktails menu.
Starbucks is a slimy corporate entity that is following the trend against unionization, while turning itself into a bank. Yes, a bank; an unregulated, uncharted bank that takes your rewards cards funds, essentially a free loan to them, and invests it into short term, cash generating investments to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars each year. All you get out if is a lousy coffee or piece of pastry.
Here's a Cold Fusion YouTube link that explains it all. It worth your time to see how these big corporations are making money hand over fist while crying poor, demanding more tax breaks.
https://youtu.be/DSuByDys44M?si=v_P1GIeq89minwh1
Wow, remember when there were 2 Starbucks locations over here, pretty much facing each other? The other one was where the new St. John's building is now, and it had this little garden thing next to it.
I am a fan and have lunch there frequently.
Damn… me and my friend use to hang out there. We just started going there. I love the location right by the 6 train. How can Starbucks not be able to pay the rent? This is really a bummer . Another piece of NYC gone
This really sucks
Depends on who can pay that rent!! My guess it’ll be empty for awhile!! But I’ve been wrong before.
Will be interesting to see what will take its place. Might be some other fast food chain
I will miss you dear decades long lover
Imagine if it's another fried chicken place right across from raising cane
Starbucks still doesn't have good coffee. You'd think a slimey corporation would a least have drinkable coffee or tea
Starbucks has been lying about closing locations in supposed “dangerous” areas that coincidentally had unionized or planned to, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re lying about the rent going up at this location.
if no one wants to pay the rent then the landlord will lose out on profit 🤷♂️ definitely won’t stay vacant for very long (nyu???)
Bring back the times of the Riviera. I do indeed miss the past.
Had forgotten this, nice find
Starbucks always demand lower than market rate rent from landlords plus free rent during their renovations before opening. If this landlord is offering same rent, Starbucks probably wanted to renegotiate a lower rent for their lease renewal.
It always looked like it should have been a bank. It was such a strange space. And there was one in the Barnes and Noble just down the block! I think it’s a gym now …?
I think a Popeye's Chicken would be an interesting contrast to Raising Canes if it rented space here.
Depends… landlords use the loss on vacant properties to lessen their tax burden on profitable ones
This Starbucks location closed because they recently unionized. They closed the Trader Joe's Wine Shop because they were about to unionize. Both of these chains are known for union busting.
Trader Joe's recently gave their employees a $2/hr raise for no reason. Sounds nice on paper. Two weeks later they started cutting back hours, entire shifts, because 'summer is slow' so employees are making less now with the raise than they were before without it. The cut in hours turns full-time employees into part-time employees making it difficult to live paycheck to paycheck, which is difficult to begin with, and screws up health insurance options. While Trader Joe's 'slow' summer is going on, they are hiring new people at the starting rate. Trader Joe's is purposely turning over employees to prevent unionization.
Someone from the Post should do a deep dive into the tjcrew reddit, the tea is spilled everywhere.
"This Starbucks location closed because they recently unionized. "
Behind a paywall(I don't subscribe) but I belive that is the POV (not a rent increase) of this Curbed article:
https://www.curbed.com/article/astor-place-starbucks-closed-east-village.html
re: Curbed. Companies like Starbucks and Trader Joe's must think their employees and customers are all idiots. The days of being fed a bogus corporate statement to take as gospel are over. It takes one email to a property owner to get the truth. The silver lining in all of this is the fact they will never learn this painful lesson.
"A representative of ASG Group, the building’s owners, offered this statement: “We are sad [Starbucks] chose to leave, even as we offered a lease extension that would have allowed them to remain in their existing space at the exact same rent.”"
Union busting.
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