By Lisa Kava and Natalie Demaree
Collars & Co., a men’s clothing shop which specializes in shirts with collars, opened on April 26th at 128A Columbus Avenue (at West 69th Street). The store sells short and long sleeve polo shirts, sweaters (crew neck, quarter zips, and cardigans), and blazers. This is the first location in New York for the brand, which has been featured on the show Shark Tank, store clerks told West Side Rag. Other stores are in Maryland,Texas, Florida, Illinois, California, and Pennsylvania. Store hours are Monday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sundays from 12 p.m. to 6 pm. M.M. Le Fleur, a clothing store which closed at the end of March was previously in the space.
Neuhaus, a Belgian chocolate shop, opened on May 1st at 189 Columbus Avenue (at West 69th Street). The chocolate company was founded in 1857 in Belgium by apothecary Jean Neuhaus, and all chocolate and truffles are still made near Brussels and freshly imported. Neuhaus specializes in the “Belgian praline,” a chocolate filled with praline. “Our products are free of palm oil and crafted with 100% sustainably sourced cocoa,” a representative wrote to West Side Rag in an email. Neuhaus has 14 shops in the United States including nine in New York. The new Upper West Side location is the first store in the U.S. to serve coffee and hot chocolate. It is also the first one that will have an outdoor seating area. (Thanks to JK for the tip.)
Luckin Coffee, a popular coffee shop chain founded in China, opened a location at 2799 Broadway (at West 108th Street), on April 30th. The coffee chain has 11 other stores in New York City (including Midtown, NoMad, and Greenwich Village), according to the company’s website. This is the first Upper West Side location. Luckin Coffee serves coffee, cappuccino, espresso, lattes, matcha, and iced “fruity americano” drinks. They also serve pastries and bakery items. All orders are placed through the Luckin app and picked up at the store. Cascabel Taqueria, which closed in 2020, was previously in the space, which has since been empty.
West Side Wok, a kosher Chinese, Thai, and sushi restaurant, moved from its location at 691 Amsterdam Avenue (between West 93rd and 94th streets), to the inside of Talia’s Steakhouse, located at 668 Amsterdam Avenue (between West 92nd and West 93rd streets), on April 30th, restaurant staff announced in an email. The restaurant has the same hours, menu and staff. “Thank you for the great eight years. We look forward to welcoming you back and serving you from our new location,” staff said in the email. (Thanks to Adam for the tip.)
Party City, a party supply store, opened on May 3rd as a “store within a store” inside Staples, at 2248 Broadway (between West 80th and 81st streets). The opening is part of a new strategic partnership between the two companies that was announced in April. According to the announcement, Party City will be coming to 700 Staples locations nationwide by the end of 2026. Party City items can be found on the lower level at the Broadway Staples location, and more products are coming soon, a representative told West Side Rag during a visit to the store. Party City items can also be ordered on the Staples website. Party City began the closure of all freestanding locations in 2024. The company closed its Upper West Side store on the corner of West 92nd Street and Columbus Avenue in February 2025. (Thanks to Ben and Scott for the tip.)
Three new stores are coming soon to The Shops at Columbus Circle, and one new tea shop recently opened there.
Aritzia, a women’s clothing store founded in Canada, signed a lease for a space that is 16,000 square feet, according to an Instagram post by @tradedny and an article in Commercial Observer. Aritzia became known for its Super Puff winter down jackets. There is also a men’s Super Puff line. (Thanks to Scott for the tip.)
Madewell, an American clothing brand owned by J. Crew, is coming soon, a spokesperson for The Shops wrote to West Side Rag in an email. The brand has seven other locations in Manhattan, according to its website.
powerHouse Books, a Brooklyn based book publisher specializing in fine art, documentary, pop culture, fashion, and celebrity books, is coming in May, the spokesperson told The Rag in an email. The bookstore has three other locations in Brooklyn.
“Aritzia and Madewell will expand the center’s fashion offering with beloved, contemporary apparel brands known for strong customer loyalty and consistent retail performance. powerHouse Books, an independent bookstore and publisher, brings a distinct cultural and community-driven element to the mix, reinforcing the center’s role as more than a traditional retail destination,” a spokesperson for The Shops at Columbus Circle wrote. We will update when we have expected opening dates.
Royal Cathay Tea, a premium tea brand, opened a location on the ground floor of The Shops at Columbus Circle on May 1, the spokesperson said. The tea shop is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays.
The Openings & Closings column wouldn’t be possible without our many tipsters: thank you! Anyone can send tips about openings and closings in the neighborhood to info@westsiderag.com.
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And on Broadway between 72 and 96 … Nothing
No closures either, so there’s that
Are you dissapointed there were no closings there?!?!?!?
There are many recent openings between 72 and 96 that the Rag has published.
Make it all the way to 116th.
Lots of new things between 106th and 116th! It’s just harder to get them listed here – though the Luckin’s at 108th, which opened a few months ago, is listed. And of course everything that ex-Absolute Bagel does gets plenty of attention!
West Side Wok moved a block away and across Amsterdam not next door. They are now at 668B between 92 and 93 but it was at 691 between 93 and 94 . There is no signage at the new location but there are notes taped to the old space directing people.
I think they were confusing it with New Tokyo, the sushi restaurant that opened next to Talia’s last year. West Side Wok is a lot older than the 8 years mentioned, as it was a kosher Chinese restaurant there for a long time, but they changed their name and added sushi and other Asian cuisines to the menu.
West Side Wok itself says 8 years so they’re ,probably counting by the current ownership. . The new Sushi Tokyo place has a different address not 668 and still isn’t next door to Talia (but close) so there’s still confusion here.
Finally there is activity on the corner of 64th and Broadway. There’s a large sign with Brasserie Boulud on the building as well as work going on within.
They are targeting a June opening last I heard from a company rep. We can’t wait!!
Wait — “shirts with collars”?? Whatever will they think of next!
Why don’t they just say “we don’t sell tee-shirts?”
No updates here on Radio Bakery??? :-/
It’s not going to happen until 2027, so….
Can we talk about how great this spring weather has been?
Last night the vibes in the neighborhood were immaculate, people were out in the park in force, curb side dining was full up and down Columbus! Days like this DOT should be able to declare an emergency Open Streets (only sort of joking)
The spring weather so far has been mostly lousy. A warm day like yesterday here and there, but the season overall has been chilly and overcast. Go back inside.
It was genuinely pleasant to see everyone out enjoying the night weather, though I couldn’t get a table at the restaurant I decided to drop in at….
Are there still restaurants where you can just drop in without a (gasp!) reservation? How…how…how…neighborhoody that sounds!
Must be an Upper West Side in another city. Not here.
Plenty in my part of the UWS! No one gets reservations that I know of.
Need a Target in the 70s and under $12 lunch spots that are not pizza. Hoping dreams can come true:)
I thought West Side Wok was on the other side of Amsterdam from Talia’s?
Corrected! Thank you.
It was. The information in this article is incorrect.
Luckin Coffee is bizarre. You have to order on the app. You can’t just walk in and get a cup of anything. Not a very personable atmosphere to be required to download an app on your phone, thereby making your information available to everybody they want to sell it to. I would stay away.
I walked in and walked right back out. Ridiculous policy. For a cup of coffee.
Luckin does not accept cash or credit cards. App only, which makes them a hard pass for me. Plenty of good cafés in the neighborhood willing to do business without tracking their customers.
(Never mind)
They’re the Chinese coffee company — they love to track people. No way would I download that app or TikTok either for that matter.
One of the stupider laws NYC and NYS passed was that businesses must be able to accept cash. The city went after Van Leuwen Ice Cream and fined them $35k. How does Luckin operate with this law and their business model?
At Luckin, the sale transaction occurs in advance and outside of the physical store. It’s more akin to paying for a meal on Uber Eats and picking it up at the restaurant.
The same way Wonder does. I don’t know exactly how/why but I think it has something to do with having no cashiers at all – or any customer interaction people. Your order is placed in an app or on an iPad and they just set your order on a rack if you’re in person or you’re having it delivered.
As one who never drinks coffee (I get my caffeine by other means), my interest in Luckin is rather limited. Still, I just did some digging and uncovered enough to secure them a place in my sprawling “Dislikes” list.
First, how do they skirt NYC’s cash-payment law? Answer: semantics! (https://medium.com/@carlxiong/why-luckin-coffee-calls-itself-a-tech-company-its-not-about-the-coffee-cbd6f657274c)
Then I discovered the company’s history of financial (https://www.headcountcoffee.com/blogs/corporate-legends-lost-empires/luckin-coffee-fraud-how-the-starbucks-of-china-built-an-empire-on-fake-sales) and privacy (https://technode.com/2020/04/13/luckin-might-have-its-app-removed-from-app-stores/) improprieties.
This may be old news, but it would suffice to keep me away from “China’s Starbuck’s” even if I were a coffee-drinker.
Do you own Starbucks stock or something?
I own no stocks whatsoever — including Starbuck’s, with which I never do business. If your “something” includes disliking bad companies, I suppose that much applies.
(Incidentally, to me the nickname “China’s Starbuck’s” is anything but flattering.)
It is a stupid law and, as such, requires drawing stupid lines, so of course there must be “semantics” involved. You wouldn’t require online sellers located in New York City to accept cash, would you?
If these hypothetical on-line sellers had physical stores/shops from which they dispense their wares/services to visiting customers, yes, I’d be in favor of it.
Why do you think it’s a stupid law? Cash is legal tender and some people prefer to budget that way or just not have a paper trail of every purchase.
Handling cash is expensive – security costs because of the risk of theft (including by your own employees). Cash also increases the risk of tax evasion, so weird for the government to push in this direction rather than the opposite.
It’s expensive like many other aspects of doing business including the big commissions that credit card companies take, but that’s not the consumer’s problem. And since most people use cards I doubt that the amount of cash transactions would be open to much fraud. The requirement to accept cash is a consumer protection and dare I say it, a human rights issue . Some people can’t get credit or don’t want to for some reason yet still might want to get some fancy coffee.
As someone averse to both banking and credit, I heartily agree. Fortunately, I’m also averse to coffee — though the cashless policy at Jacob’s Pickles irked me.
You dont have to shop at those places. Simple.
And when, in some dystopian American future it’s all too easy to envision, MOST businesses stop accepting cash, well, you don’t REALLY have to shop at those places either, right? You can join the barter economy, or maybe take up foraging, or move to a better country. Easy-peasy.
Although Federal Reserve Notes do say “This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private”, bear in mind that legal tender has its limitations. “It is generally only mandatory to recognize the payment of legal tender in the discharge of a monetary debt from a debtor to a creditor. Sellers offering to enter into contractual relationship, such as a contract for the sale of goods, do not need to accept legal tender and may instead contractually require payment using electronic methods, foreign currencies or any other legally recognized object of value.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_tender)
That said, some folks are actually in favor of the surveillance state; I am not, and I fully support New York General Business Law § 396-ii, which went into effect March 21 — which Luckin Coffee appears to be flouting.
And with djt rendering the nation pennyless/penniless, it’s worth knowing NYC’s rounding policy for cash transactions: https://www.nyc.gov/site/dca/consumers/Prohibition-of-Cashless-Establishments.page .
Agreed no cash establishments are cutting out low income customers i believe intentionally
I think the law is right, in that a cashless business means that people without a bank account and/or credit card can’t go there. However, a cashless business is also probably safer for the people who work there
I am curious, does anyone “normal” actually shop at what was time warner center?
Whole Foods shoppers are fairly normal.
And for all of us, it’s got plenty of good clean bathrooms, if that’s what you need in the neighborhood. I can’t remember the last time I went there for anything else, in fact!
H&M shoppers are about as normal as you can get.
I would like to know who thinks there’s a need for Lincoln Stationers to return to upper west side, its 20 years since we closed?
Wow, I haven’t thought about them in years. I loved that store. Come on back!
A “need” may be overstating it (e.g., Bill questions whether we even need cash), but at least as far as I’m concerned, certainly a desire. I miss the place, along with a number of other lost neighborhood stationers.
I’m willing to try any coffee spot that isn’t filled with dogs, so yah I’ll try Luckin.
I’d rather be at a coffee spot with dogs than with a person who doesn’t like dogs.
that’s super dumb – i like dogs i just like my food and my dogs not in the same place.
I don’t really understand Powerhouse Books – who owns them? If Amazon’s own bookstore closed at “The Shops @ Columbus Circle” (a.k.a. Time Warner center), how can Powerhouse make a buck? Certainly not from selling books…
Maybe too many people figured, “Why shop at Amazon [the store] when I can shop at Amazon [the website]?”
Aritzia taking 16k sf at Columbus Circle is a lot of space. Wonder if one of bigger current tenants is leaving. (Hugo Boss would be my guess. Place is always empty )