NY Cake, the much-loved cake supply shop on 22nd Street near 6th Avenue is closing its doors.
"We're Moving," reads a sign in the window. They're not sure where they're going yet, but you can put your name on the mailing list to be notified.
A multi-generation family business, NY Cake was started by Joan Mansour in 1991-- it was previously known as the Chocolate Gallery in 1989.
The shop is a wonderland of cake supplies--shelves of sprinkles and sugars, racks of molds for making chocolate lollipops.
And lots of those plastic novelties for decorating cakes for every occasion.
They also have this amazing door, for reasons that remain a mystery:
I haven't been able to get through to NY Cake to find out why they're closing and hoping to relocate nearby. Back in 2011, they inked a 10-year lease extension, according to the Commercial Observer. “They’d been wonderful tenants,” said the landlord at the time. “The neighborhood is conducive to their business.”
The building has also been filling up with tech companies as the neighborhood changes.
UPDATE: Grub Street followed up on this story and reports:
“We have to be out by June; we’re looking for somewhere to go,” says co-owner and co-founder Lisa Mansour. “You can imagine the rent prices. I am looking diligently. Our old landlord passed away, and a niece and nephew took over a little before January. We never had problems before; we’ve been here 30 years.”
That is a damn shame
ReplyDeleteBut I think they hurt their business themselves because they are VERY expensive but when you really need something they always had it
i don't think of the products as expensive, but impressive in scope--a baker's dream of supplies, equipment, and inspiration. I dearly hope they will relocate.
ReplyDeleteI am a professional baker and went to NY Cakes a lot. I started a thread about their demise on a baker's site and the consensus was that they were the meanest, least helpful, purposely rude bunch of "customer service" staff imaginable, and they will not be missed. Surely real estate is playing into their choice to close, but I know that many of us simply moved on to online sources because shopping local, in the case of NY Cakes, meant being abused or ignored.
ReplyDeleteHad I seen this post before the event at WordUp last night, I would have tried to ask you about it (even though I doubt Claudia would have allowed any more discussion that did not fit her agenda). Jeremiah, have you ever actually tried to buy anything there? Or did you just rush over when you learned the news so that you could take pretty pictures and sigh? I go there when I know exactly what I need, so that I don't have to interact with anyone.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Rick - not a nice place to do business.
ReplyDelete