Chase unveils its Coffee Shop-replacing sign on Union Square

Chase, the newish tenant on the southwest corner of West 16th Street and Union Square West, has erected its new vertical sign on the building — a bland attempt at replicating the familiar neon that was here for 60-plus years.

Food writer Nick Solares shared these photos...



A little history. The Coffee Shop, the Brazilian-American diner run by former Wilhelmina models, closed here in October 2018 after 28 years in business. The Chase branch opened on Dec. 17 ... along with Chase-partnered Joe Coffee. (There's also another vegan quick-serve outpost of by CHLOE on the 16th Street side.)

During the renovations, workers removed the 1950s-era Coffee Shop neon sign — which belonged to the cafe (called Chase, oddly enough) that predated the Coffee Shop by several businesses.

There was some hope that the old sign would return after a cleaning/refurbishment. Obviously that isn't happening.


[Photo via Jeremiah Moss]

Have you seen the former Coffee Shop space on Union Square?

Several EVG readers have shared photos of the recent storefront transformation on the southwest corner of West 16th Street and Union Square West ...



The Coffee Shop closed here in October 2018 after 28 years in business. As you may already know, the Chase branch opened on Dec. 17 ... along with Chase-partnered Joe Coffee. There's also another vegan quick-serve outpost of by CHLOE on the 16th Street side.

Gothamist has been documenting — here and here and here — the blandification of the space, which saw the removal of the classic neon Coffee sign.

How to murder a mid century facade. Thanks @Chase cc @evgrieve pic.twitter.com/0j17pHnyR9

— terrence (@artisanmatters) December 13, 2019

So much for @Chase bank keeping any of the iconic Coffee Shop signage 😢 #unionsquare @evgrieve @Gothamist pic.twitter.com/Rc8ks1wpAU

— deb kadetsky (@harobed8) December 7, 2019

As for the sign, it disappeared after 8 p.m. on Dec. 5...

@evgrieve Coffe Shop sign coming down? pic.twitter.com/r3RoF9YarN

— Alex G (@agorm13) December 6, 2019

No one seems to have any idea what happened to the sign, which predated the coffee shop.

Some signage history via Robert Sietsema at Eater:

Coffee Shop replaced an actual coffee shop called Chase but retained the coffee shop’s old neon sign that climbed the corner of the building, which said Coffee Shop in a gigantic font. In fact, it was probably one of the first places to “steal” the identity of a previous establishment, imbuing the neon sign with a certain irony.

Jeremiah Moss has more about the space here.


[Photo via Jeremiah Moss]

Report: By Chloe joining Chase in the former Coffee Shop on Union Square

[Photo from Saturday]

ICYMI: Expanding vegan chain By Chloe will open an outpost at the former Coffee Shop space on Union Square West later this year.

Here's more on what to expect via Eater, who first reported this news:

At the Coffee Shop space, the interior will pay homage to the nostalgic diner by including “intimate round banquette seating” and “a nod” to the restaurant’s original neon sign, according to By Chloe marketing material.

But its a move that still may not sit well with longtime fans of Coffee Shop. The restaurant was a nostalgic, distinctively New York place, while By Chloe is part of a huge company that’s in part flourished due to colorful food and spaces made specifically with social media marketing in mind.

By Chloe will have company in this space at West 16th Street. The Coffee Shop will be divided into four spaces. One space is reserved for a Chase branch, as Jeremiah Moss reported last fall.

The Coffee Shop closed last October after 28 years in business. The rising cost of rent and wages were reportedly behind the closure.

The Coffee Shop closed on Union Square, and what it might mean for NYC's restaurant biz

[Via The Coffee Shop's Instagram account]

As you probably know, the Coffee Shop closed Sunday on Union Square after 28 years in business. (You can find photos from the last day at Gothamist.)

The rising cost of rent and wages were reportedly behind the closure.

Forbes had a piece back on Friday with Coffee Shop co-owner and president Charles Milite — who opened the space in 1990 with two other Wilhelmina models, Eric Petterson and Carolyn Benitez — that provides some perspective on the challenges of running a presumably successful restaurant here and now and in the future.

Milite told Forbes that rent had become “unusually high,” accounting for close to 27 percent of the restaurant’s gross revenues. Add in the scheduled $2-per-hour minimum wage hike set to take place on December 31 — an increase that, across Coffee Shop’s 150 employees and multiple dayparts of service, would have added $46,000 to the monthly payroll — made it impossible to break even by cutting costs elsewhere.

“It’s a wakeup call for our industry in general,” Milite said. “When a restaurant is one of the top-ranked restaurants in America, sales-wise, and can no longer afford to operate, you have to look at that and say there’s a shifting paradigm in the business.”

Milite predicts that this shift will lead to the gradual disappearance of 200- and 300-seat restaurants like Coffee Shop; in their places will come eateries with smaller, more focused menus and limited service. He’s already trying this with Flats Fix, a fast-casual taqueria right next to Coffee Shop on 16th Street.

A bank branch is rumored to be taking the space, Forbes reported.