Fading Businesses in ‘New’ Harlem
Photo Credit: Ivan Corsa
Harlem blogger Nicole Moore from UptownLife.Net talks about different black-owned businesses (new and old) that have closed their doors or are rumored to be closing soon:
“Last week as I walked around the hood I started noticing something a tad bit disturbing– the closing of many new businesses. In spite of Harlem’s much hyped real estate boom and talk of new money breezing through America’s self-proclaimed Black Mecca, many new Black owned businesses like Nubian Heritage, The Harlem Tea Room and Ginger can’t seem to keep their doors open. But why? I emailed a friend to see if there was something more scandalous at the root of these closings like the Mafia or The NY Board of Health, but she simply responded, “I guess that the businesses closed because they weren’t making enough money to pay the bills.”
No kidding. I’m sure it’s because of money. I guess my question should have been how are these businesses NOT making money in this here gentrified Harlem? People certainly buy Nubian Heritage’s products. I know I do. Maybe too many folk were buying them from the many street vendors on 125th and not enough in the store. Never mind that The Body Shop on that same corner just expanded and now they are twice the size. I guess they are getting a lion’s share of the beauty product revenue in Harlem along with Carol’s Daughter. Too bad! They had an absolutely beautiful spot– huge windows, two floors (the 2nd floor was supposed to be a spa that never materialized). Now I hear this location is going to become an Applebees. So wack!!!”
Read the entire posting at UptownLife.net
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I use to be a customer at Nubian Heritage. I would go there almost everyday to use the wireless internet, drink coffee, and eat the wraps. I lived right across the street from the place and met the owners. The place used to open at 8am in the morning (thats if it opened on time). Then one week I noticed that it was opening at 10am instead. I asked the owner why? He told me that it wasn’t necessary to open that early because they weren’t making any money. I told him the reason they wasn’t making any money because the place didn’t OPEN on time!!! That was a bunch of bull. Countless people would stop there and get coffee before they got on the train to go to work. Some days, at 8am, the place wasn’t open. I also suggested that they start selling the New York Times so people can read something intelligent while drinking their coffee in the morning. He responded “Thats a good idea.” Months later I didn’t see not one newspaper in there. Being inconsistent, and not being open to suggestions, especially from your customers, is bad business. Also, you can’t have unprofessional staff. That place never opened on time but it sure would close at 7pm on the dot! Our people need to get it together when it comes to running a business! Real talk!
The real issue that I find in many Harlem businesses is SERVICE. Make My Cake are the rudest and I am glad to hear others feel that way (I guess I was being self involved – I thought it was just me). I never went to the Harlem Tea Room because I had read reviews that their service stunk. Any business that treats me well gets repeat i.e. Les Ambes – I will go to them over Starbucks any day to keep them in business because they treat their customers well.
I do not agree this is a city wide problem. While rudeness maybe – slow is not. And Harlem is slow. Sometimes we avoid going out to eat because we just don’t have the time to waste.
Lastly – I was sad to see Purple Reign go – but their prices were too high. Most shoes were $70 bucks for a 2 year old!! Their selection was quite limited also. Ginger was also overpriced.
I think the people who’ve got the price point right and treate people well and have New York style service (fast) are going to make it. Just because we live and grow businesses in Harlem and not below 96th street does not mean that the general rules of running a sucessful retail operation don’t apply.
Yeah, I go to Nectar too. Both times it was ok for NY (compared to say but good for Harlem. Wine was good, food was hit and miss and service was surly. I often go to Cafe Amrita (old Saurin Park), or some of those restaurants over on 123rd and Amsterdam. But my favorite place is Sunshine Kitchen on 145th. I would eat it everyday if I just didnt care about my heart. For the most part Im behind a lot of the changes, but if they force my good buddy Ken out, Im gonna pull a TURK 182 up in this piece!
The deal is that true Harlem knows who they are and what they want. People make the mistake of coming to Harlem with the “if you build it they will come mentality” . If you learn nothing. learn from the Apollo that Harlemnites are a hard crowd. When Harlem defines itself or rather finds itself then businesses will be able to succeed.
Regarding Sushi Charles on 5th avenue has carried Sushi for a couple of years and I dare say, it goes wanting every night.
Harlem tea room NEVER was a real tea room… they should have taken a lesson from Lady Mandel’s or Alice’s Tea Room to know what is real.
Renaissance Cigar Bar is a good idea but then if you truly smoke cigars you would know how limited their selection is.
The true deal is Harlem is undefined. The New Harlemnites came not for what the neighborhood offered, but for the rent… Enough haven’t followed yet to warrant the change or the merchants. While the high rents have pushed out the Harlemnites with history. Wimps… Shrimp Bar… Knox Hats…Harlem Slice..Moshood. Never would have left if the people hadn’t left.
Do you really think we need American Apparel??? That obviously is not for any person that has been in HArlem for more than 5 years.
Finally Harlem doesn’t have the market on POOR SERVICE it is a systemic problem try the village, Soho or even the Water Club.. The service is down hill all the way. It’s a generational curse
By responding to the Hotness Grrrl, I supposed that I’m revealing that I look at this blog more than once a day. Perhaps I should get a hobby.
At any rate, Lolita’s is a Mexican restaurant that opened a couple of months ago on the corner of 113th and Lenox. Harlemfur wrote about it. In my opinion, the food is very good and the price point is right. I had it delivered last night and my three tostadas cost a little over $8. The soft tacos are in the $2.50 range. That strikes me as comparable to downtown prices. I’ve eaten there (or had it delivered) about five times in the last three weeks, which is an incredibly high number for me.
Ottomanelli’s is a butcher/restaurant that has several locations in Manhattan. I think that it’s been mention on this blog. They’re opening up a location on 111th and 5th. They’re still probably a few weeks away from opening. It will have to do as my beer and burger joint for now.
Closer to home–along Lenox from 118th to 120th–there are a number of store fronts that appear to be available. In addition to the Purple Reign and Emperor’s Roe spots, there are four spots between 119th and 120th on the west side of Lenox that are newly renovated. Cafe Latte is going into one spot, but I have no knowledge, only curiosity, about the other three. I also wonder what will happen to the old liquor store location on the SE corner of 119th and Lenox.
YOHIMBOT– I agree. If you are in VIP everyone has to get bottled up, no doubt, but this place specifically that I mentioned is like Moca’s requiring bottles. And that wouldn’t be so bad but the justification for this is too keep it classy. Now if anyone knows about crowd quality in lounges/clubs then you know classy doesn’t necessariliy go hand in hand with required bottle service. Jimmy’s was a great restaurant uptown but as soon as they started that bottle service/ red velvet rope crap then the crowd changed and they ended up closing shortly thereafter. The Harlem Grill was anotha cool spot but then one night there was a bouncer at the door and he told my man that he couldn’t enter because he had on sneakers. Never mind my friend is a very cool journalist who just wanted to get his drink on. Soon I noticed a change in the usual patronage there. I no longer felt like dealing with what evolved into Friday and Saturday night madness at The Grill and that place soon closed too. Smell a trend? I do. So glad the spots like Native, Nectar & Ricardos avoid that sort of ghettoized business mindset.
The Harlem Tea Room never really entered the mainstream of Harlem”s consciousness. They got good press in O Magazine and Black Enterprise etc., but never really interfaced with the community. No real marketing and advertising which may have been due to cost, but for their location and type was a necessity. Tepid reviews and inconsistent staffing didn’t help either. And yes there wasn’t much “food” to eat. Which may not have pleased typical Harlem eaters. Nice place, aesthetics, just not enough time spent on building it.
Down with Make My Cake!!! Maybe we can a get a serious entrepreneur who knows about quality!
That was why I was sad when my good buddies at Sugar Hill Java and Tea Lounge closed. They had steadily improved on their offerings and service to the point where after 2 years it was really good. Then they closed it down, not b/c of lack of money, but b/c it was too hard to staff the place and they just wound up spending all of their time there just to break even. As for the observation that Blacks dont get as good service, I have never noticed this…any time Im up in a VIP, I have to get the bottle service or get to stepping. Just the way it it is.
Just a correction to Bradhurst Living:
Bayou was on 125th and closed a couple of years ago. You were referring to Baton Rouge on 145th Street. By the way, you should have some insight into when the new Maroon’s should FINALLY be opening?
Again it’s hard for me to accept location as a reason for Harlem Tea Room’s closing. I don’t live on the eastside so I don’t know, but where do people eat over there. I feel like the Tea Room should have been top billing. Maybe the lack of hot dishes was discouraging to would-be patrons. And I totally agree with Shawna and have actually blogged about the lack of middle ground in Harlem. Like that furniture store on 116th Street- Soha Furniture–they can’t be faring too well. The Kalahari isn’t totally occupied yet and I’m sure most new residents are just trying to pay that mortgage and are not thinking about a $2,000 dining table!
About the lack of service– that’s a particular problem in Harlem but also in NYC in general. I just got into a major debate with someone who works at Tillman’s (an “urban” upscale lounge in the Chelsea area) who said that Black Americans have a chip on their shoulders and expect service should be better for them at Black owned venues. Well of course I nearly lost it because my argument is to just give us fair and equal treatment. I so often feel like we are treated worse than other patrons. At that specific venue Black men are often told to buy a bottle for entry whereas their white counterparts usually aren’t. Never mind that “bottle service” is a fricking ghetto fabulous joke, it’s just biased service.
AND I just bought a red velvet cupcake at Make my Cake and was shocked when I had to pay $4. Got home and it tasted like cheap cocoa’d baking powder. Absolutely awful!!! That will be my last purchase there. Now maybe I will lose those extra 5 pounds!
MMP BROWNSTONER: Please tell us more about Lolita’s & Ottomanelli’s. Haven’t heard about them yet.
So with regards to Make MY Cake: customer service sucks, pricing is rediculous, and I am almost certain that they use Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines when preparing their products. They should be preparing their products from scratch….I mean we’re paying enough for it! I no longer patronize Make My Cake.
I agree with Shawna that some of the business plans have been head-scratchers. Emperor’s Roe and Purple Reign are two familiar punching bags and the cigar bar and Harlem Tea Room are two others on Madison that have seemed strange to me. I also wonder whether N boutique is in the red. It’s probably people’s ambition getting ahead of their business sense. I’ve also noticed that many of the new businesses seem to charge quite a bit for mediocre product (and poor service), which doesn’t help. I try to patronize local businesses, but it’s hard when I’m paying more for something inferior to what I would get downtown. (I see Ginger as a prime example of this.)
On and near the Lenox Ave corridor below 125th, we seemed poised for round two. Good businesses have survived (Native, Piatto Doro); new promising businesses are opening (Lolita’s, Ottomanelli); there’s an influx of people wo want higher end services; and there is plenty of available space for more businesses, some of it in prime locations.
I tend to agree with Shawna in that alot of businesses are going under b/c of a flawed business plan. Poor service is also another factor. This is why chain stores consistently beat mom & pop stores in a head to head matchup. Small business have to find a way to be more adaptable in order to stay one step ahead of the more efficient franchises. I definitely think that Harlem Development Corp should do a survey to find out for which services/businesses there is pent up demand and also profile successful small businesses.
Unfortunately, commercial rents are very high uptown and most landlords are forcing tenants to do both build out and pay rent. That’s too much for most small businesses, let alone a start up.
And most minority businesses can’t get loans which has nothing to do with their business plan. We don’t have office buildings with tenants that can supplement residential sales. And folks are scared of mixed income housing which is needed. Businesses need multiple revenue streams. Marketing in NYC is one of the highest in the country even with 8 million residents.
Getting through the bureacracy of NYC is another stress that businesses have to endure. Trying to get permits, inspections and approvals. Dealing with government workers who don’t care what your business plan may say or how long you have to wait for your approval. Their clock is very different.
Facing all of these challenges at the same time is rough. And it is easier said than done. I am most saddened by the close of these businesses. And I applaud their courage for risking and their willingness to serve. We need to support each other more and even criticize to strengthen our community.
Agree with Shawna completely – the business has to fill a need, at the right price with good service in the right location. That’s why places like Harlem Vintage, Society, Les Ambassades, Settepanni and Moca all have survived where as a lot of these over-ambitious or poorly executed businesses have not. Ginger had a shot at making it but crappy service on 2 occasions had my wife and I write that place off. Bayou on 145th has the same issue – overpriced food for the neighborhood and terrible service will likely do that place under – a shame because it has the sitdown dinner market to itself right now. Hoping Maroon’s doesn’t repeat the mistakes when it opens. Also wondering if Citarella can survive on 125th in that location – just seemed like a bizarre spot to put an upmarket grocer when better spots on Frederick Douglas are available which are further from Fairway, it’s upmarket competitor. Also have to question the decision of the guy who opened his wine shop just down the block from Harlem Vintage on 116th and FD. Hope he survives but Adam Clayton Powell and Lenox could use a nicer wine shop just as badly and you wouldn’t be 3 blocks from the established competitor.
Shawna- A neighbor put it best when he said ‘there is so much pent up ambition in Harlem.’ It does seem like people’s ambition burst out a bit too strong (caviar instead of sushi). I am feeling that with a little more time, people will get it right.
Shawna, I have to agree, in a general sense
I have lived in Harlem for 1 year now and as a bonafide black gentrifier with I eye towards change in Harlem – I have two bones to pick.
1) Deplorable service in Harlem – need I really say more?
2) Non-sensical business strategies. There seems to be a push to rapidly change the neighborhood without an eye towards spending habits and shopping patterns. A tea room at $20 a person? Why not an upmarket cafe with daily traffic? A now defunct caviar restaurant on 120th and Lenox? Why not a clean and healthy sushi joint? A now defunct children’s boutique? The rental space was too big to possible carry the type of revenue from such a niche business. Plus, never enough merchandise to make the store look anything other than a flea market? Make My Cake charges 50 – 75 cents more per cupcake than any of its upmarket competitors downtown. I want to support but let’s be real, that’s price gouging.
I think new entrepreneurs need a lesson in business strategy: location, price points, traffic patterns, spending habits, customer service, etc.
Again, Harlem is on the come up
I can’t figure out what happened with Nubian Heritage. It was located in the NBT building and I think National Black had some holdings shared with Nubian Heritage. Nubian Heritage should have been able to survive just based on the number of customers that frequented BOMA. For some reason Harlem has yet to figure out the winning formula. I agree with J that it looks like the first wave of people to get the grant money seemed to have the right backing. Settepani, Harlem Vintage and the like have weathered the storm and stood strong. It can be done.
The simple supply and demand equation was in play at the Harlem Tea Room. Not enough $$ coming in to pay the rent. Location and customer service might have played a factor in the loss of revenue.