It’s really spring, and just as the flowers are peeking out of the ground, so, too, are retailers and restaurants, especially those who cater to folks looking for a quick bite. Get ready for summer!
All About Apparel
Live baseball is back (hooray!), so why wouldn’t you need a new cap — or other headgear? Look to Lids, which will open a store at 15 Union Square West later this spring or in early summer. Also look for sneakers, as online marketplace HypeClub opens its first brick-and-mortar location at 285 Lafayette Street. Users can both buy and sell shoes at the location.
Wining & Dining
Samesa, the first Manhattan outpost of the Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York crowd favorite, has opened at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, serving chicken shawarma, chickpea seitan, kale fattoush, Detroit-style Greek salad and other pita wrap, salad and platter options during lunch hours for delivery and to-go orders.
Pure Green, the fast-growing cold-pressed juice and smoothie chain, will open its newest location at Park Tower Group’s Greenpoint Landing, a 22-acre development stretching for one-half mile along Brooklyn’s waterfront. The shop, which features a variety of healthy food offerings, including wellness shots, smoothies, acai and pitaya bowls and more, will occupy an 840-square-foot storefront at 5 Blue Slip, a space that directly overlooks the recently renovated and expanded Newtown Barge Park and esplanade. Pure Green at Greenpoint Landing will be the brand’s second Brooklyn location and is expected to be open to the public starting this summer.
Australian-inspired specialty coffee roaster, café and lifestyle brand Bluestone Lane plans to open up 15 locations this year. The openings include Manhattan’s Battery Park; three locations at Chelsea Piers; The Avery in San Francisco, California and the Walt Disney-run Fox Lot in Century City, Los Angeles, California, which will serve as the exclusive provider of coffee throughout the lot.
Taco chain Tacombi is opening another Queens unit on Austin Street in Forest Hills. And if you can’t get enough tacos (and, really, who can?), Taco Bell Cantina continues its expansion, opening a flagship location at The Paramount Building (1501 Broadway) near Times Square. More than 20 Cantinas (which offer an expanded menu with alcohol, an urban design) already operate around New York City. Across the street, Asian restaurant Jollibee continues its U.S. expansion, announcing plans for a 7,127-square foot Manhattan flagship at 1500 Broadway. The two-level space includes 3,127 square feet of ground-floor retail space, as well as 4,000 square feet on the lower level.
International travel is resuming in at least one respect; L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele, one of the most historic restaurants in Naples, Italy, is coming to New York City at 2 Bank Street (formerly Barraca). The original outpost was founded in 1870. The New York outpost will sport a salumeria, coffee bar and wine cellar. Speaking of Italy, the Belmont Business Improvement District in the Bronx has brought back “Piazza di Belmont,” the open-air dining area on Arthur Avenue, which featured local restaurants debuted last year amid COVID-19 indoor dining restrictions. As of press time, it was to open between East 188th Street and Crescent Avenue from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sundays through the fall.
You can’t put a good burger joint down. Smashburger has signed a 10-year lease at 804 Lexington Avenue (62nd Street), which had been the last location of Burger Heaven, which shuttered last year just before the pandemic after 77 years.
To Your Health
The Spot Barbershop is coming north from Miami, Florida, to open its first New York City branch, at 332 Bowery. The Spot, which has operated for 20 years in Miami, offers full hair and grooming services for men, including classics, like hot-towel shaves.
Home Sweet Home
West Elm has opened an outlet store literally in its own backyard: Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The first outlet in New York City for the Brooklyn-based chain debuted in Industry City, where it opened a Maker’s Studio workshop and design center in 2015. Trendy home goods store November 19 has taken space at 37 Orchard Street, replacing Coming Soon (also a home furnishings purveyor) which relocated late last year further down the street.
Be Active
Dick’s Sporting Goods expanded its nationwide footprint with the April grand opening of its new concept store, Dick’s House of Sport, in Victor, New York, and two Warehouse Sale locations and experiential Soccer Shops in select locations in April. Dick’s House of Sport offers multi-sport experiences inside and outside the store, broad integration with the community, elevated customer service and enhanced technology, the company said.
Debra Hazel
Debra Hazel Communications
New York, NY
201-618-5247
