OPENINGS & CLOSINGS: KAE LEE CLEANERS, AEROSOLE, MOKJA KOREAN RESTAURANT

Do apps hurt or help local businesses? Read more below about how one local laundromat is using an app to stay alive. Also, a tasty tip about a new Korean restaurant.

Kae Lee Cleaners, at 530 Columbus Avenue (85th-86th), closed its doors last month, with the landlord literally changing the locks as Meredith Kurz shot the photo above. “Our lease is up at the end of year and there happens to be a ‘Very Large Discrepancy’ between what the landlord and Kae Lee Cleaners feels our small 200 sq ft. space is worth,” owner Nigel Hazzard wrote to customers in an email. But Kae Lee isn’t stopping service — the owners are working with an app called trrigr that allows them to pick up their customers’ laundry and deliver it back to their buildings. They eventually hope to open in a new spot.

“As you might already be aware, we have been moving more and more into the digital age over the past year by means of the TRRIGR App and other digital technologies within the store. These things have allowed us to expand our business in ways we would have never imagined.  We have grown exponentially and are able to provide real time updates and better communication tools for our customers.”

It’s an interesting development: technology has undoubtedly hurt many local stores by allowing people to buy cheaper goods from online providers. This piece from the New Republic looks at some of the problems apps cause.

“With the dozens of apps built to disrupt local markets and quickly satisfy every need, there’s no longer a need for those former pillars of a neighborhood, grocery stores and laundromats and corner stores. Instead, we’ve got Amazon Prime Now for electronics and dry goods within an hour; Fresh Direct for groceries; Drizly for wine; Fly Cleaners for laundry; and Postmates, which hires local (underpaid) workers to get you anything else you might need.”

And yet, some local businesses have found ways to use apps to make money, and even keep going (without physical locations) when the rent goes up.

Aerosole, the show store on Columbus between 74 & 75th, is closing with a large liquidation sale. Thanks to Gretchen and Deborah for the tips.

Mokja, a Korean restaurant that started in Astoria, has opened a new branch at 852 Amsterdam Avenue between 101st and 102nd, the former location of Warique, according to a tipster. An employee at the Astoria location said the restaurant was planning to open on the UWS, but said she didn’t think it was open yet. It isn’t listed on the company’s website either. If anyone swings by that spot, please send us a picture!