Astor Place Hairstylists is very much open

In recent days, there have been some unfounded rumors that Astor Place Hairstylists had closed, based mainly on the renovations happening in the ground-floor storefront (ex-Vitamin Shoppe) on the SE corner of Broadway and Astor Place. 

Yesterday, management put up a "We Are Open" banner on the construction plywood above the basement stairs (thanks, Michael Quinn!)...

They also posted a video on Instagram (see below) to ensure that people know it's business as usual here seven days a week (7 a.m. to 7 p.m.)

Astor Place Hairstylists, founded in 1947, faced an uncertain future during the pandemic. However, with help from some investors, they were able to sign a new lease in 2022. 

 Now take it away, Frankie...

 

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Panda Express debuted TODAY on 14th Street and 1st Avenue

Photos by Steven

After nearly 20 months since the start of storefront renovations at the address, the Panda Express officially debuted today on the SW corner of First Avenue and 14th Street...

Employees were handing hand Panda Express keychains as well...

This marks the latest outpost for the quick-serve Chinese restaurant chain that launched in California in 1983 ... with more than 2,000 locations today (with a handful around NYC). 

An AT&T store was here for a few months... taking over for the Vitamin Shoppe.

Posted hours here at this location: 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

2023 preview: Panda Express

Nearly a year has passed since we first reported on Panda Express coming to the corner space on the SW side of 14th Street and First Avenue. 

The signage arrived in May. (All these photos are from late last week.)

PE workers told us in July that they'd be open very soon. 

By late August/early September, there were issues with permits — as in waiting for the city, Con Ed, etc., to approve them. A PE rep then told The Village Sun then that this outpost wouldn't open until the first quarter of 2023. (One tipster told us that management here was very late in turning in the necessary paperwork for the various licenses, etc.)

In any event, the PE still looks ready for action, ... though this location still hasn't appeared on the PE website ... and we still receive a lot of queries about the status of the space...

As for this storefront, an AT&T store was here for a few months... taking over for the Vitamin Shoppe.

Panda Express launched in California in 1983 ... with more than 2,000 locations today ... with a handful around NYC.  

No, Panda Express hasn't opened yet

We heard from a reader who said that the Panda Express Chinese Kitchen had debuted on the SW corner of First Avenue and 14th Street. (Revisit the EVG Panda Express Archives here!)

On closer inspection (H/T Steven!), this outpost of the quick-serve chain based in California wasn't open just yet ... with a worker stating they would be ready for guests next week.

A look inside the establishment, the former AT&T store and the Vitamin Shoppe, shows just a few tables for indoor Panda Expressing. However, there are three tables (no chairs!) (randomly?) set up on the 14th Street side of the storefront.

So perhaps this outpost will have outdoor dining... stay tuned!

Fast-food chain getting ready to Express itself on 1st Avenue and 14th Street

Several EVG readers have pointed out that the Panda Express Chinese Kitchen is looking closer to opening on the SW corner of First Avenue and 14th Street.

Workers have removed the paper on the front windows, offering a view inside...

No word on an opening date (and this outpost has yet to make the PE website).

News of the PE arrival first surfaced in January. 

This marks the latest outpost for the quick-serve Chinese restaurant chain that launched in California in the early 1980s ... with more than 2,000 locations today (with a handful around NYC).  

An AT&T store was here for a few months... taking over for the Vitamin Shoppe.

And previous posts about PE's arrival have brought out comments of support for the delicious and affordable Mee Noodle Shop & Grill down the block at 223 First Ave. (between 13th Street and 14th Street). It was Allen Ginsberg's favorite restaurant (when it was at the former location at 219 First Ave.). You can find their menu via all the online delivery platforms. (212) 260-7838.

Panda Express makes it signage official on the SW corner of 14th Street and 1st Avenue

Orange Chicken, incoming!

The Panda Express Chinese Kitchen signage arrived yesterday on the SW corner of 14th Street and First Avenue, as EVG regular Pinch shows us...

News of the PE arrival first surfaced in January (31 comments!).

This marks the latest outpost for the quick-serve Chinese restaurant chain that launched in California in 1983 ... with more than 2,000 locations today (with a handful around NYC). 

An AT&T store was here for a few months... taking over for the Vitamin Shoppe.

Panda Express pulling into this storefront on 14th Street and 1st Avenue

Renovations are underway in the corner space on the SW side of 14th Street and First Avenue.

Pinch (with the help of EV Arrow) points to the work permits... where we see that a Panda Express is coming to this storefront...

This marks the latest outpost for the quick-serve Chinese restaurant chain that launched in California in 1983 ... with more than 2,000 locations today (with a handful around NYC). 

An AT&T store was here for a few months... taking over for the Vitamin Shoppe.

And as a P.S. for the SW corner... a Citi Bike docking station was installed here at the start of the year as part of the EV expansion...      

Thanks to Pinch for the Citi Bike pic!

Formerly interesting new business closes on 1st Avenue and 14th Street

From the EVG tipline: The AT&T store on the southwest corner of First Avenue and 14th Street has closed (confirmed by the location's website). Workers have emptied out the space ...



The AT&T outpost opened last November ... taking over the retail spot from a Vitamin Shoppe that shuttered in November 2018.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• Signage for interesting new business arrives on 1st Avenue and 14th Street

Interesting new business opens on 1st Avenue and 14th Street

That AT&T store is now open for business on the southwest corner of First Avenue and 14th Street. (Photo from EVG AT&T Authorized Retailer correspondent Pinch.)

This zone is now a hotspot for wireless services, with AT&T joining the MetroPCS next door and the T-Mobile on the southeast corner of 14th and First.

The previous tenant here, the Vitamin Shoppe, closed in November 2018 after nine years in business.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Signage for interesting new business arrives on 1st Avenue and 14th Street

Signage for interesting new business arrives on 1st Avenue and 14th Street

Just the other day we mentioned that an AT&T store was coming to the southwest corner of First Avenue and 14th Street.

And just like that, workers started putting up the AT&T signage here next to the MetroPCS and across the Avenue from a T-Mobile, as EVG AT&T Authorized Retailer correspondent Pinch reports...



For now, the storefront is paying homage by keeping up the iconic branding from the previous tenant here, the Vitamin Shoppe...

Hold the phone: An AT&T store is coming to this corner of 14th Street and 1st Avenue

An AT&T store will be the new retail tenant for the southwest corner of 14th Street and First Avenue (237 First Ave.), per data from The Real Deal.

The lease for the 1,500-square-foot space was recorded on Oct. 10. No word on the rent or a possible opening date.

With this arrival, two of businesses at this intersection will be phone stores. There's a T-Mobile on the southeast corner.

The previous tenant at No. 237, Vitamin Shoppe, closed last November after nine years on this SW corner.


[Photo from November 2018]

H/T Upper West Sider!

Week in Grieview

[Kramer on 6th at A]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

2nd Avenue gas explosion defendants due back in court on Monday (Thursday)

Preparing for Saturday's dinner at Il Posto Accanto on 2nd Street (Friday)

Owner of Tompkins Square Bagels wants to bring the old Liquiteria vibe back to the original space (Thursday)

The gutting of 180 2nd Avenue continues (Wednesday)

Dojo looks to have closed for good (Friday)

Tree Bistro's back garden badly damaged in last week's 1st Avenue fire (Monday) ... Report: 188 1st Ave. survives fire; back extension must be demolished (Monday)

Coffee is in your future at this new café on 7th Street (Thursday)

This week's NY See (Thursday)

Heavy-duty fencing arrives as playground renovations continue in Tompkins Square Park (Monday)

Report: Arrest made in armed robbery of Mona's on Avenue B (Tuesday)

The Marshal seizes Papa John's on 1st Avenue (Monday)

The Vitamin Shoppe on 14th Street and 1st Avenue is closing (Tuesday)

It's possible to get the Impossible Burger at Sidewalk now (Friday)

80 stories of glass now at One Manhattan Square (Monday)

Name reveal: Emmy Squared's grilled-pizza sibling will be called Violet on 5th Street (Wednesday)

New cafe alert: JQK Floral Tea slated for 11th Street (Tuesday)

Grand Opening continues at the Dumpling Shop on 2nd Avenue (Thursday)

That Nutella Cafe is shaping up on University Place (Wednesday)

StuyFitness debuts on 14th Street (Monday)

Here's your Möge Tee signage on Cooper Square (Monday)

C Lounge debuts on Avenue C (Friday)

... and on Tuesday, we reported that Tony (aka Abdul), the longtime owner of the deli at 123 Avenue A (and apparently the owner of the building) died... photographer Thomas Anomalous shared this photo of Tony on Instagram from September 2005...



Anomalous had moved away from the East Village in the early 2000s and returned several years later. As he wrote, in part, on Instagram:

Virtually no one remembered me, except for Abdul. He shook my hand warmly and said he had wondered what had happened to me many times over the years. I asked where everyone from the old days had gone. He said “There is no one left but you and I, my friend.”

-----

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The Vitamin Shoppe on 14th Street and 1st Avenue is closing

The closing signage is up on the southwest corner of 14th Street and First Avenue ... where the Vitamin Shoppe outpost will vacate the space on Nov. 17 ...



The listing for the space doesn't include the asking rent.

Nor sure why this location, which arrived in January 2009, is closing. (Leaving ahead of the L Train Apocalypse?)

This past summer, The Motley Fool listed the Vitamin Shoppe as a brand that may not make it through 2018:

Its sales tumbled for six straight quarters, and analysts expect it to post a 5 percent sales decline and a net loss for the full year. Vitamin Shoppe’s stock tumbled more than 80 percent over the past three years.

Its ongoing store closures might soften the impact on its margins, but it also weakens its brand presence against GNC. There are persistent rumors about GNC merging with Vitamin Shoppe, but combining two losers won’t make a winner ...

The Vitamin Shoppes on Broadway at Astor Place and Union Square East will remain in business.

[Updated] Part of the Pizza Bagel Cafe space available to lease on First Avenue and East 14th Street

There's a new listing for 224 First Ave., currently home to the Pizza Bagel Cafe at East 14th Street.

A few details from the RKF listing:

POSSESSION
Arranged

TERM
Long term

FRONTAGE
160 feet on First Avenue

SITE STATUS
Currently Pizza Bagel Cafe

NEIGHBORS
Artichoke Pizza, CVS/pharmacy, Chase, Duane Reade, GNC, McDonald’s, Starbucks, The Vitamin Shoppe

COMMENTS
Directly adjacent to the First Avenue L subway line, Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village
Prime East Village corner location
All logical divisions considered

No word on rent...

Updated 10:49

Pizza Bagel Cafe is not closing. They are just downsizing. The space for lease will be smaller, per a tipster.

Here is the future of East 14th Street and Avenue A: 7 stories of residential and retail

Wow. Here we go.

As we first reported last December, eight parcels consisting of 222 Avenue A and 504 - 530 E. 14th St. (excluding No. 520) were leased for a 99-year period by the respective owner of East Village 14 LLC. City property records showed that Gary Barnett of Extell Development signed a 99-year lease worth $35.14 million to rent eight Sol Goldman-owned properties.

And the businesses have disappeared, including The Blarney Cove and Bargain Express.

What's next?

Here's a look at a conceptual rendering from an RKF retail listing with more details for the all-new 500 E. 14th St. ...

SPACE
Ground Floor* 24,710 SF
Lower Level* 14,600 SF
Total 39,310 SF
*divisible

POSSESSION
First Quarter 2016

TERM
Long term

FRONTAGE
52 feet on Avenue A
257 feet on East 14th Street

NEIGHBORS
Associated Supermarket, CVS/pharmacy, Duane Reade, Dunkin’ Donuts, McDonald’s, Starbucks, The Vitamin Shoppe, United States Post Office

COMMENTS
• Located at the base of a brand new seven-story residential and retail development
• Rarely available large block of retail space in a prime East Village location
• Directly across from Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village
• Logical divisions considered
• Space can be vented for cooking
• Loading dock located on the East 13th Street side of building

More more more... later later later.

Previously on EV Grieve:
East 14th Street exodus continues

The disappearing storefronts of East 14th Street

[Updated with correction] 8-lot parcel of East 14th Street primed for new development

Bargain Express has closed on East 14th Street

East 14th Street corridor now nearly business-free ahead of new development

Noted

Spotted on the Vitamin Shoppe's front door on First Avenue and East 14th Street... can't recall seeing many "unapproved for menacing" signs before...

Cops looking for the two men who robbed the Metro PCS store on East 14th Street

[Via NYPD]

The local TV stations this morning had the news about two armed men who robbed the Metro PCS store on East 14th Street at First Avenue (just to the west of the Vitamin Shoppe) last Friday.

The NYPD is searching for the two men, who made off with an undisclosed amount of cash.

NYI has the surveillance video here.

And the boilerplate: Anyone with information about the case is being asked to contact Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-577-TIPS, by texting TIP577 to CRIMES, or by going to NYPDCrimeStoppers.com.

The Penistrator can't wait for the snow

Outside the Vitamin Shoppe on First Avenue at 14th Street...

Another lost corner market?

Several readers sent along word that the Olympic on First Avenue at 13th Street abruptly closed ... it could simply be for renovations, though you think they'd leave a sign....



... plus, there aren't any work permits on file with the DOB...

Meanwhile, speaking of shuttered delis... The East Side Gourmet Deli closed last month on East Fourth Street and Avenue B.... word is another deli is taking over the space... EV Grieve contributor Bobby Williams took this shot yesterday....



The 13th Street and First Avenue location is particularly troublesome... There are four chains in close proximity — Dunkin Donuts, Subway, the Vitamin Shoppe and Papa "Is in the house!" John's.

Seems like the kind of set-up that 7-Eleven is getting a Slurpee Boner for.

Blink, and there's a Vitamin Shoppe

Just seems like yesterday that I mentioned a Vitamin Shoppe was opening on 14th Street and First Avenue...The last few months have seemingly zipped by...and Vitamin Shoppes must be easy to create.