By Lisa Kava and Natalie Demaree
Alo, the athleisure clothing brand, is celebrating the grand opening of its new Upper West Side store on August 14th at 211 Columbus Avenue (between West 69th and West 70th streets). The store will open at 10 a.m. Alo sells men’s and women’s fitness clothing, athleisure wear, and accessories. Alo, which stands for “air, land, and ocean,” was founded in 2007 by childhood friends Marco DeGeorge and Danny Harris, who embraced yoga for personal health reasons. The company now has over 130 stores worldwide. This is the sixth location in NYC for the brand. The UWS Alo will host an “early access shopping night” on August 13th from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., where the first 100 shoppers will receive a free gift with purchase. On August 14th and 15th, Alo will have a live DJ, acro yoga performances, and gifts with purchase. Club Monaco, which closed in September 2025 was previously in the space.
The FIFA World Cup Merch pop- up store at The Shops at Columbus Circle officially closed on July 19th, a representative confirmed to West Side Rag in an email. The pop-up opened in June to coincide with the World Cup, and sold soccer balls, jerseys, hats, T-shirts, and other memorabilia.
Hudson Valley Veterinary Dermatology, a dermatology clinic for dogs and cats, opened on July 16th at 149 Amsterdam Avenue (between West 66th and West 67th streets). The clinic offers allergy testing and treatment, care of various skin conditions (including auto immune conditions, hair follicle-associated diseases, and viral or fungal infections), a representative told West Side Rag on a phone call. It is open Tuesdays through Fridays from 8:30 a.m until 5 p.m. and by appointment only. Hudson Valley Veterinary Dermatology was founded in Thornwood, N.Y., and that office remains open one day a month to service Westchester patients. The NYC office, which was previously located on West 42nd Street, closed on June 26th, moving all operations to the new Upper West Side location.
The Pet Market, a nutrition and care shop for pets, closed its location at 667 Columbus Avenue (at West 92nd Street), on July 31st. “We did everything we could to keep this location open, but unfortunately the financial pressures facing small businesses in NYC have made it impossible for us to continue operating this location,” a representative for The Pet Market wrote to West Side Rag in an email. “Thankfully our other Pet Market locations remain open and strong, and we continue serving our customers at our five other locations in NYC.” Three of these are on the Upper West Side (at 132 West 72nd Street, 224 West 72nd Street, and 2821 Broadway). The Pet Market sells pet food, treats, toys, and accessories. Customers can also continue to shop online and receive same-day delivery, the representative wrote.
Sephora, the personal care and beauty chain, temporarily closed its location at 808 Columbus Avenue (between West 97th and West 100th streets), for renovation, according to signage posted to the building. Sephora has not yet responded to West Side Rag’s outreach asking about the type of renovation and a reopening date, but we will update when we have more information.
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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Pet Market was great. I didn’t go regularly, but did buy several large ticket items there. So many good places have closed.
Yup. I think their locations on 73nd are safe because they are not super close to Petco. But yeah, that location was great.
Is Barzini closed?
Nobody likes to admit they’re closing and would rather maintain some sort of pretense like “in negotiations” or “looking for another location” or “doing some much needed renovations.” Did Casa Salvo ever officially admit it?
I was there yesterday and they said they’re closing “in 2-3 weeks, probably.”
Last week, the manager told me they are negotiating a lease and a few days before THAT, they told the Rag they are not closing
Maybe their lease is up and the property owners want too big a rent hike. But from my observations, business fell off a cliff since the Health Department closure last year. I used to go there all the time and pretty much have rarely gone since, and there would be lines all hours of the day and night, no more
But if they close, I feel so bad for the people working there
Some of the cashiers have been there decades. And if this is due to the property owners’ desire to raise the rent – spaces stay empty for yeeesaaassrs
Where will the poor mice and roaches get dinner now?
The Pet Market closing due to financial pressures facing small businesses in NYC is one more disappointment, both for businesses and customers. The streets of the Upper West Side and the Upper East Side are covered with shuttered stores and closing announcements. It looks like a war has broken out. I read last week about problems being experienced by the owners of Sarabeth’s Kitchen. I think the problem applies particularly to Manhattan rents rather than the other boroughs. As far as I know, there are lots of roomy hang-outs in Brooklyn. It’s rare now in Manhattan to find a store or coffee meet-up that is comfortable, roomy, and encourages customers to stay a while. There’s no place to sit except for the rare opportunity (such as the lobby of the David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center). The Shops at Columbus Circle removed seating a long time ago, I guess due to the homeless hanging out and maybe to encourage customers to go to one of the restaurants if they want to sit down for a while. The closings and lack of space are disappointing.
Maybe people can tell the NYC Council that proposing a $30/hour minimum wage will only lead to large corporations and big chains, unless NYC wants that. A $30-per-hour minimum wage would be financially impossible for our small businesses to absorb, The result would be fewer jobs, reduced hours, business closures, and more owners looking outside New York.
It would also create severe wage compression. If an entry-level employee must be paid $30 per hour, small and midsized businesses would need to pay experienced, highly skilled employees substantially more to recognize their expertise and years of service. Most independent businesses simply do not have the revenue or profit margins to sustain that payroll structure.
For many small businesses, the math does not work. Rents are super high and this proposal would not strengthen New York’s small-business community—it would accelerate its disappearance.