Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
Photos from yesterday
Updated 7/29: See the end of the post for a statement from Starbucks HQ. The SB sign has also been removed from the retail space. Photo here.
Updated: 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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Starbucks on Astor Place will close its doors for good after service today, ending nearly 30 years here outside the entrance to the downtown 6 at Lafayette. (H/T to the tipster who first shared this development.)
According to management, "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.)
The manager went on to say that he would miss this location's regulars and being part of their day.
As of yesterday, the Astor Place shop had already scrubbed the brand's NYC location map...
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.
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--Updated--
Starbucks closed its unionized location on North 7th Street location in Williamsburg on June 30, per Greenpointers.
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With its floor-to-ceiling windows lined with high stools, the outpost was popular for its ample people-watching opportunities ... as well as convenient public restrooms. (Before the 2018 renovations, a one-star Yelp review from here noted: "The bathrooms look like they run a cockfighting ring out of them.")
Despite this closure, Starbucks still has smaller outlets on Avenue A at St. Mark's Place, First Avenue at Third Street, and First Avenue at 13th Street (not to mention locations on Union Square and University Place).
Once upon a time, there were two Starbucks on Astor Place (plus one at Broadway and Ninth Street that shuttered in 2019)... the one at 51 Astor Place closed in 2009 and was replaced by the New York Film Academy Café. That iteration of the address was demolished in 2011 to make way for the Death Star.
Updated 7/29
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.
I know people pile on starbucks etc.. but sometimes you want that giant iced coffee and it's a good deal.
ReplyDeleteAnd if *STARBUCKS* can't afford that rent... who the hell will move in there? Landlords should be fined for stuff like this ... if it stays empty for more than a year ... there should be some recourse.
Also this was a unionized location ... so that's something to note.
There are so many other independent brands now too. Think coffee, Mud, 787, the bean cafe as well as other small 1 location cafes that east villagers love to support.
DeleteMost of those are mini chains or aspiring to get there
DeleteBring back the Astor Riviera!
ReplyDeleteYES!!! God I miss that diner!!
DeleteThanks, I was trying to dig up the name of that diner. Great post shift pot roast at 4am
DeleteWow they raised the rent so high that even a corporate chain like Starbucks could not afford to stay at that location. Then that rent must really be high.
ReplyDeleteStarbucks is not as attractive as it used to be. People are no longer willing to pay such high prices for a cup of Joe, especially when you get one and it's been overcooked and it very bitter. Also, the company is not as progressive as it once was and is part of that anti-union Supreme Court case, isn't it? I think they are not making the cash they once were. I will not miss them.
ReplyDeleteThe article says that the shop that is closing was unionized. And it also says that they are closing because the landlord raised the rent so high that even Starbucks couldn’t afford it. Next time maybe you could read the article yourself. I’m a busy person after all.
DeleteA few things to unpack here - but this store, especially right after Covid, had a big problem with unhoused people loitering and sleeping in the store. And then they pulled out of all of the couches to mitigate that. But more recently it's become a hangout for the delivery bikers from the delivery store next store.
ReplyDeleteAlso, this store was unionized. Whether that had any impact on their decision, who knows, but there was a protest by the workers of this store last summer that wasn't a great look for the brand.
There are quite a few retail vacancies on Broadway nearby. I wouldn't be surprised if they open up a smaller footprint store with less seating or even one of those 'to go' only stores in the coming months. This is too large of an area, especially with NYU nearby, to not have a presence in.
i mean, if they can't afford it, who can??
ReplyDeleteSounds somewhat similar to what happened to the Trader Joe's Wine outlet on 14th St. Their corporate management decided to close the store rather than be unionized. They gave the story that "they weren't profitable" and closed it real quick. And what are they now?
ReplyDeleteA Trader Joe's take out store.
Boycotts work.
ReplyDeleteI surely hope so. I'm a very pro union but avoiding Starbucks unionized stores.
DeleteWan't there also one on 9th and First?
ReplyDelete@ 10:08
ReplyDeleteThe outpost on 9th Street and 2nd Avenue closed in April 2019.
How I miss Astor Riviera.
ReplyDeleteCommercial landlords charging exorbitant rents and having the tenants pay the real estate tax on the property is destroying the LES.The Adams Administration needs to wake up before retail in the city becomes a thing of the past. Landlords should be expected to pay a penalty for every empty storefront they own. This shouldn't be about making a landlord wealthy; it should be about keeping a community vibrant and as close to crime free as possible, and with empty storefronts everywhere, that isn't going to happen.
ReplyDeleteStarbucks helped start the gentrification of the LES, and now doesn't want to pay the gentrified rent they helped create
DeleteThis!
DeleteStarbucks joined Elon Musk's SpaceX, Trader Joe's, and Amazon in a vicious anti-labor suit that threatens the entire regulatory state, asking Trumper courts to declare the National Labor Relations Board unconstitutional. Last week they won a major victory at the Fifth Circuit, who offered injunctive relief based on their expectation that the far-right Supreme Court will uphold their ruling. I will not be paying the Astor Place Starbucks a farewell visit and I hope they all close.
ReplyDeleteThreatens the entire regulatory state? Wonderful! I hope that lawsuit succeeds
DeleteWasn’t there also a Starbucks inside the Barnes and Noble (now TMPL) across the street?
ReplyDeleteYes! When there were 3 Starbucks within a block of each other. Once someone asked me where the Starbucks was because he was meeting someone (yes, that long ago). I got to point all 3 out and wish him luck.
DeleteThere was a cafe in the Barnes and Noble that “proudly served” Starbucks coffee, but it was not a Starbucks store; it was B&N Cafe.
DeleteI'm sure another corporate client will come in for a while, but clearly Starbucks can't see the value in this. So much of their business is now 'order ahead and pick up,' having a giant store is not economical.
ReplyDeleteGood riddance.
ReplyDeleteIt’s strictly a business decision for all sides. Landlord calculate rent by $ per square footage.
ReplyDeleteStarbucks calculates profit etc. it just didn’t make business sense for them. All these businesses are come and go. NYC is so comparative and if you don’t own your own building its virtually impossible to stay anywhere long term.
I grieve the newsstand that was there.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who doesn't drink coffee, I often found respite at this particular location for over fourteen years, especially on my way home during a hot, sticky afternoon, a raging thunderstorm or even a cold, dreary day. I usually bought a baked good, an iced tea or a hot chocolate while basking in the central AC or heat while accessing free internet. A nice place to chill out for a bit and people watch. Yes, there were a few who were homeless or possibly on drugs. A majority of them minded their own business, didn't hurt anyone, and just needed a place for rest. What will happen to them now? What also happens to this spot?
ReplyDeleteIf a global conglomerate such as Starbucks can't afford the rent, who will? It's astonishing this landlord refused to negotiate with such a ubiquitous, loyal tenant with locations around the world. I am certainly not happy with the political and social tone of this company as of late. The CEO is tone deaf AF. Their overall messaging and lack of support surrounding unionization is troubling. Yet, Astor is huge thoroughfare for commerce and life in lower Manhattan. This very loss is indicative of the delusion and the unrelenting greed of building owners with no underlying respect for a community.
https://laughingsquid.com/reverend-billy-arrested-for-performing-exorcism-on-starbucks/
ReplyDeleteFEBRUARY 13, 2007
“Reverend Billy, who was arrested on February 3rd for protesting at a Starbucks at Astor Place in New York, was re-arrested at the same Starbucks last Sunday, February 11th. The arrest took place after he had married a couple at the spinning Cube”
“After marrying a couple who declared their love in celebration of freedom and justice, Rev is arrested for exorcising the Starbucks exterior.”
What's a diner?
ReplyDeleteNo diner will ever be able to afford rent in this space, not even Starbucks could. It will just idle and collect dust. Sad.
ReplyDeletewho the fuck cares about Starbucks. a bigger picture is that in this environment the mom & pop shops will cease to exist. we will be living in a place with no personality, just big money corporate pigs taking everything that was dear to what was once an amazing warm unique place. the pigs that have destroyed this are an invasive species that should be irradicated
ReplyDeleteI’m really curious how much the rent was?
ReplyDeleteI’m sure it’ll make our heads spin!
$$$
It’s not hard to figure out. They said the place is 4000 sq ft. Plus it’s a prime location.
Delete“The median price per square foot in Quarter 1, 2024 was $605, a change of -12.8% Y-o-Y”
"Threatens the entire regulatory state? Wonderful! I hope that lawsuit succeeds"
ReplyDeleteYeah, who needs clean air or water or medicines actually being what they're labelled to be or our kids in school rather than operating heavy machinery for minimum wage at 14 or medical debt kept off your credit report, anyway?
It was a great pick up spot 20-25 years ago
DeleteOh wow. That is where I waited outside to pick up the village voice to get the apartment listings in summer 1995 when I found my place in the EV. I know it’s a big corporation, but I always loved sitting in the front watching humanity pass by. That first year,it was mostly rollerbladers.
ReplyDeleteEvery single corporate coffee shop is turning into a to-go only operation. The days of being able to sit in a Starbucks for a couple hours for the cost of a tall drip coffee are fading fast, if they’re not already gone. You really can’t blame them for shutting down one of their larger footprint stores.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sarah. What are we thinking when we applaud getting rid of regulations?
ReplyDeleteSo much sad. The end of annera. Goodbye classy vintage coffee and store.
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind The Famous Cozy Soup 'n' Burger, which is still open very close by at 739 Broadway.
ReplyDeleteIt's amusing that people are grieving this Starbucks. When it first opened (replacing a newsstand) people saw it as a sign of a corporate invasion of Astor place. There's irony in the fact that they were right and even more irony in the fact that this very Starbucks is now unable to exist because of jacked up rents due to the corporate invasion of Astor Place.
ReplyDeleteGood Starbucks needs to go away, all locations, from the beginning it has been been a joint adventure in cappuccino making and retailing with neither being even close to successful. Also the Astor Place location supplanted a great 24hr diner where after locking up the nearby club where I labored generally about 4:30 am, I would head to the diner for my well earned pot roast dinner. Good riddance SB's
DeleteIt replaced a 24hr diner
DeleteI saw reverend billy and the stop shopping choir exorcise the cash machine in this Starbucks so long ago and I haven’t gone back since then. I haven’t gone to amy Starbucks since then. I wonder what new extractive business will take its place. I wonder if cash machines will exist by the time it opens or if they’ll just scan retinas for payment. I wonder what the site of exorcism will be when reverend billy gets wind of the injustices. Will it be me. Will it be you. Coopers square is a dead zone. Lincoln delivered that address in the basement of cooper union and it even feels dead in there now. Citibike bullshit and Alicia keys musicals and some lonely drug addicts. I was once a drug addict in cooper square but I was not lonely. Goodbye to all that. Concrete jungle where dreams are made of. Is that the actually line from that dumb song? Exorcise me. Somebody.
ReplyDeleteI will miss the place as they did offer pretty good coffee at good prices. However, the place was getting really gross. It used to be a good place to hang out, sit by the window and people watch, meet friends etc. but it got to the point where the stench of urine was all too frequent, seats were caked with crud and whatever else homeless put there, a sleeping shelter for vagrants, etc. I felt bad for the workers who had to kick people out of that single bathroom, much less clean it.
ReplyDelete