The Scoop
2007 July 5
The condo market heats up [amNY]
But the co op market cools down [Bloomberg]
Developer rises in Harlem [TRD]
N Style in Harlem [BSN]
Crime stats are down [DN] but murders continue [ABC7] to plague uptown.
Harlem teen dreamed his murder [DN]
Stumble It!
The “N Boutique” artile is not a news story unlike usual Scoop fair, it’s a Public Relations Press Release by the N Boutique disguised as news.
I’ve been in that place 3 times with 3 different women, all of them laughed at how outrageously high the prices were for the same product line they could get 4 and 5 subway stops away. The place is always empty too, go see for yourself.
It’s also a very poor location, if all the people characterized as “owners” had a clue, they would see they need to be on One Two Fifth – that’s a no brainer.
Whoa…talk about being a “hater”. Speaking of a “no brainer”, if #1 used theirs, they’d know that with commercial rents being what they are on 125th Street, there’s little chance that a small start-up business could kick off there.
i could be wrong, but i always thought that boutiques like that–selling things at very high prices–dont need a large customer base to stay afloat (especially if they are in an inexpensive lease) they need maybe one or two people a day to come in an drop a couple thousand and they are golden. it’s totally different than old navy that needs thousands of customers daily to make a profit.
2, The people behind N Boutique are simply not very bright (hate to say it). Example. Shaping up on 7th ave. there between 135th and
138th or so is an upscale fashion strip (the Jeans place, Omaya B or whatver it’s called, that cute women’s boutique, etc.).
N Boutique should have located on that strip, further strengthening that little upscale shopping stroll in Harlem. That’s called creating “synergy” and a “district” – in this case upscale chic fashion. All the merchants would benefit.
But N Boutique does not have that intelligence to be blunt, they’re located in a FOOD location in “little Africa”, not a shopping location. The rents would have been LOWER had that aligned and created synergy with the other upscale fashion retailers in Harelm on that strip I described.
Call it hating if you want, I am making sound, valid, well reasoned points. Their location is a huge mistake, makes no sense, just look at the retail around them. Conway? Africa phone cards, sheets, rice, soap, and videos? Are you kidding me.
That’s what funny about the press release. They talk about the owners credentials when in truth – they’re collectively about as smart as a sack of rocks for locating that place in little Africa. They won’t last at that location, they should move and synergize with those other upscale style merchants.
You may not like how frank and blunt I am saying it, but I am right and it’s rather obvious.
Rude and obnoxius people often pass their point of view off as “frank and blunt”.
I’m not into all that shi-shi shoping stuff anyway, but more power to those who are.
I just wish the folks at “N Boutique” the best of luck as a locally owned business.
I am just wondering if anyone here is a small business owner? It takes a lot of hard work, gumption , mistakes along the way and luck to have a small business – sucessful or not – especially in this town. I applaud anyone who has the nerve to try.
Is it just me, or does Henry Vargas look like he’s about to knife somebody in those billboard ads? The guy looks SHIFTY.
I hear that he IS shifty. I’ve heard that he tells one lie after another way too easily, and that he doesn’t seem to know anything about development or construction. The billboard ads and his website are RIDICULOUS! Most likely he inherited his dad’s properties and political connections, and is now partnering with real development companies and making a couple bucks as a minor partner, because he is the local Harlem guy they have to deal with. From what I hear, he doesn’t seem like he could develop ANYTHING by himself…except maybe an attitude.
Little Birdie is absolutely right. I’ve been renting from Henry Vargas for about a year. The guy can’t open his mouth without telling a lie. If your bathroom ceiling has a giant hole in it, with water pouring down from your upstairs neighbor, he’ll promise to fix it right away, then disappear for days. If your toilet is backed up, he’ll say, “I’ll be there in 10 minutes,” and you’ll never see him. There’s a family of giant rats living in the trash cans in front of my building. He’s been promising to take care of it forever, but he never lifts a finger. If you ever want anything to get fixed on his properties, you have to call the city on him.
Looks to me like Henry Vargas has been mooching money and influence from his Dad, Victor. And once these developers showed up at Central Park North, Henry started getting a big head, running around like he was some sort of real estate genius. I hope he gets hosed by these real estate sharks, loses the shirt off his back, then has to rent from a landlord who treats him the way he’s treated all his tenants.
The billboard and website are not just ridiculous. They’re PATHETIC! First of all, he looks like an idiot with that crooked, creepy smile. Second of all, the website couldn’t fool a half-bright 12 year old. He put up pictures of St. John the Divine, the Apollo Theater, and the Adam Clayton Powell State Building—as if he had anything to do with them. What does he expect us to believe? That he built the Cathedral of St. John the Divine???
GET OVER YOURSELF, HENRY VARGAS!!!! Without Papi’s money, you’d be NOTHING!!! Worthless jerk.