Openings & Closings: Alexis Bittar, Target (Early Opening), Bareburger, Cafe 71, Spear
High-end jewelry store Alexis Bittar is replacing Papyrus at 209 Columbus Avenue between 69th and 70th. Alexis Bittar closed a location on Columbus a few years ago “as it was an underperforming door compared to our other three NYC locations.” Thanks to David L., Nancy and Rachel for the tips.
The Target at 795 Columbus Avenue near 98th Street opened on Wednesday, although its grand opening isn’t until Sunday. The store was already pretty busy, according to Betsy Howard, who snapped the photo above. “It’s much smaller than the store at 61st and Broadway,” Betsy wrote. The store will open at 7 a.m. and close at 10 p.m. on weekdays and open from 8-10 on weekends. On Tuesdays, the 7-8 a.m. hour is reserved for vulnerable guests, including people who are pregnant or elderly or those with health conditions.
Bareburger says it will open soon on Broadway between 79th and 80th, a location where the burger chain has had signs up for two years. There are hiring signs on the door. Thanks to Gretchen for the tip.
Cafe 71 on 71st and Broadway has been closed for a while, but its vacancy has now been confirmed by a for-rent flyer. Thanks to Upper West Sider for the tip.
A new physical and occupational therapy office called Spear is opening at 2465 Broadway near 92nd street, near the Equinox. Thanks to P. for the tip.
OK, I’ll bite: What’s the meaning of Alexis Bittar’s old location having had an “underperforming door?” Did the hinges squeak? Did the door not keep out the rain? Or, like the door in my home, did it let in annoying relatives?
That’s retail speak for a store location. They are called doors in the industry
It means they weren’t getting a lot of customers.
Or maybe the crumbling door at the old location turned away high end customers…
Good one, Baffled! 😁
So a priest, an imam, and a rabbit walk into the blood bank. The rabbit says “I think I’m a type-o.”
Excellent!
¡Excelente! (en español)
excellente! (en français)
aoysgetseykhent! (in eydish)
Ausgezeichnet! (auf Deutsch)
eccellente (in italiano )
chon (in Klingon)
Too funny! I now have a new joke to tell. Thanks Bob!
Can you reach out to Homemade by Miriam? They were supposed to open months ago in the former location of Recolte Bakery on 74th and Amsterdam.
Why can’t YOU reach out?? Is the WSR your personal secretary?
I hope you don’t have high blood pressure.
That was a very Larry David response
Her loan fell through. She’s hoping to offer her products online next year
The sad and disappointing part of Target is this location like their other Man locations refuse to carry books. All of their other locations carry them with great discounts, better than Amazon or any of the local stores. Perhaps if enough of us ask they might carry then. Mgr’s at the new store and at 66 both have said no one would buy them. They obviously didn’t do the due diligence the UWS reads like crazy.
If they had books, it would only be the same best sellers that you can get everywhere.These smaller NYC stores don’t have the space. Even the suburban stores are not like real bookstores.
If they have to sell the books at ‘great discounts’ I’m going to assume that they couldn’t get rid of them fast enough without taking a loss. So why bother carrying them?
Many, if not most use an electronic device (Kindle, Tablet, phone, etc) to read books these days.
This is a complete falsehood.
According to a survey conducted in 2020 by the Pew Research Center on book consumption and book formats, traditional print is still the most popular reading format for both adults and children.
37 percent of Americans claim they only read print books
28 percent say they read both print books and e-books
7 percent say they only read e-books
So, many. Not most. Forgive me. It is a dying industry.
Also not true, although this seems to be your wish for some reason.
The American Booksellers Association (ABA) reported a 49% percent growth in the number of “indie” booksellers in the US, from 1,651 in 2009 to 2,470 in 2018.
Printed book sales amounted to 750.89 million units in 2020, marking growth of 8.2 percent, the highest year-on-year increase since 2010.
Pizza Joint on west 71st appears to be closing. restaurant was in state of deconstruction two nights ago. cigar chomping man, owner or manager said the rent of 22,000 dollars a month was not surviveable.
the place had closed two years ago approx and reopened with new management at outset of pandemic.
to correct-its called Big Nicks now
What is Spear replacing?
I saw ads that if you work for Target, you get full college tuition as free. A happy thing for teenagers around 98th street West.
Stopped by to check out the new Target and thought their selection of items looked reasonable for a small (by Target standards) neighborhood location. Everything you need day-to-day so that you don’t have to try to make the $35 free shipping cut-off. Location-wise also nicely splits the difference between 61st and ones in Washington Heights and East Harlem.
I must say that the loss of Papyrus – both of the UWS locations – has been as upsetting as the loss of any other merchant. Yes, one can get cards at Barnes & Noble, Shakespeare’s and even all-purpose stores like CVS and DuaneGreed. But it’s simply not the same.
I miss Papyrus. <<<>>>
Another Bareburger?!?!?! Twice the price and half the good of Shake Shack and 5 Guys. The Bareburger near me should be called BarelyCustomers.
Went into the new Target today. It’s much smaller than the one on 62nd and Broadway. It’s really like a mini-sampler of a Target. Doesn’t really have a lot of anything, except pharmacy stuff and some food choices. Some of the areas (sports stuff, towels and linens, etc) are laughable. Prices seem higher than non-NYC Target stores. OK for milk, eggs, drinks, ice cream, etc. UWS could sure use a sport oriented store. Like a place to buy a can of tennis balls…., sports wristbands, yoga mats and blocks, bike stuff, etc. Their selection of books, if they carried them, would be as lame as these other areas.
Target’s head office is in Minneapolis. Culturally speaking there is not much to offer from MN but they have high standard of American food packaging. And their business management is solid and excellent, wisely targeted to highly populated higher-income cities like NYC. Trader’s Joe from CA seems to be more successful in creative food products from recent foreign immigrants and Californians. Their staff hiring goes beyond age limit. And their local ads looks obviously philanthropic.
The TJ Maxx across the street always has a good selection of fitness gear. Well priced yoga mats, elastic bands, gloves. During the summer they seem to have more miscellaneous sports items but I’ve never seen tennis balls .