Wednesday, December 4, 2024

That's a wrap for now at Boris & Horton

Photos by Steven 

ICYMI... Boris & Horton has wrapped up its nearly seven-year-run on the NW corner of Avenue A and 12th Street, shutting down as expected this past weekend. 

For now, paper covers the double storefront here, which was the city's first dog cafe.

Earlier last month, ownership (daughter-father Logan Mikhly and Coppy Holzman) posted notices that they would close at the end of November. This development happened even after a successful crowdfunding campaign and a newly enacted subscription plan earlier this year. 

From an Instagram post on Nov. 11: 
Despite these efforts, we've experienced a significant drop in our monthly subscriptions, with almost 90% churn, and our sales are slightly down compared to last year when we initially made the difficult decision to close. 
Mikhly and Holzman said they've previously met with potential suitors but have yet to close a deal. Last week, they wrote: "we're hopeful that one of our customers will be taking over and reopening in 2025." 

However, the retail space remains on the rental market.

5 comments:

Sarah said...

OK, haters, enjoy the weed store.

Annie said...

I loved the concept of this! Too bad it didn't work but at least had a 7 year run.

Annie said...

What haters?

Scuba Diva said...

@Annie: I think any New York business that manages to survive 7 years is successful as heck; most don't even make it a year—or even past the concept stage.

editrrix said...

Maybe they should have made it more of a dog daycare with a public visit/coffee bar as a side hussle? Then, people couldn't camp out all day with their laptops. Kind of an insurance nightmare, but then isn't it anyway? In this scenario, you lose all the tables and chairs, the dogs run the show, and maybe you have a narrow shelf running the perimeter. Limit it to docile dogs under 25 pounds and offer packages in short bursts to dog owners who need short breaks, like an hour or two to make an appt. or run an errand where a dog would not be welcomed. Personally, I'd love to see a cat cafe in that same space, but similar challenges apply. Seven years IS a successful run, though. It was a cute operation. Sorry to see them go.