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After 28 years, the beloved children’s shop is closing
When Michael Rosenberg started his business in 1985, it was a different world. Almost 30 years later, Granny Made at 467 Amsterdam Ave. between 82nd and 83rd is preparing to close its brick-and-mortar storefront and expand its online presence.
“It’s a mixed blessing,” said Rosenberg, who began his business career in the early 1970s with Home Box Office.
He plans to keep the store open while he looks for “a buyer “for his lease, which has seven years left on it. “We will stay open while we try to assign the lease,” said Rosenberg.
According to data from loopnet.com, the monthly rent for the storefront at 467 Amsterdam is approximately $10,500 per month.
Rosenberg is used to reinventing his business. The store sold mostly women’s clothing in the 1980s and 1990s, but has become a children’s store selling, for example, handmade sweaters based on those his grandmother had made for his family. He developed a web site in1996-1997, and moved the brick-and-mortar store from Amsterdam between 78th and 79th streets three years ago. In his years in the neighborhood, Rosenberg has been seeing a third generation coming into the store. He cites Sept, 11, the economic downturn of 2009, and changes in shopping habits as factors that have encouraged him to change direction.
“Everybody seems to want to shop online,” he said. “The internet has hastened the store’s closing.”
Yet, he is optimistic about the future. “I’m going to do a third act with my business life,” he said. His immediate goal is to closing the store in the summer and intensify the web site including international shipping.
After 28 years, the beloved children’s shop is closing
When Michael Rosenberg started his business in 1985, it was a different world. Almost 30 years later, Granny Made at 467 Amsterdam Ave. between 82nd and 83rd is preparing to close its brick-and-mortar storefront and expand its online presence.
“It’s a mixed blessing,” said Rosenberg, who began his business career in the early 1970s with Home Box Office.
He plans to keep the store open while he looks for “a buyer “for his lease, which has seven years left on it. “We will stay open while we try to assign the lease,” said Rosenberg.
According to data from loopnet.com, the monthly rent for the storefront at 467 Amsterdam is approximately $10,500 per month.
Rosenberg is used to reinventing his business. The store sold mostly women’s clothing in the 1980s and 1990s, but has become a children’s store selling, for example, handmade sweaters based on those his grandmother had made for his family. He developed a web site in1996-1997, and moved the brick-and-mortar store from Amsterdam between 78th and 79th streets three years ago. In his years in the neighborhood, Rosenberg has been seeing a third generation coming into the store. He cites Sept, 11, the economic downturn of 2009, and changes in shopping habits as factors that have encouraged him to change direction.
“Everybody seems to want to shop online,” he said. “The internet has hastened the store’s closing.”
Yet, he is optimistic about the future. “I’m going to do a third act with my business life,” he said. His immediate goal is to closing the store in the summer and intensify the web site including international shipping.
