After 15 years in business, the owner of in Cedarhurst decided to move her upscale women’s apparel shop to the Allegria Hotel in Long Beach, hoping to revitalize her business in a fresh and unique location.
“It’s not that I left because there was too much competition from other designer clothing stores in the area — that wasn’t the problem,” said owner Faye Klausner. “Over the past couple years, the new younger generation in the area don’t seem to have or want the same elegance as years ago.”
Love Realty, which owns the building and several others in the area, is currently looking for a new tenant for the storefront, which has only been vacant for about a month.
Steve Handelsman, a partner at the real estate company, said the store’s biggest advantage is that it is located just a half a block off of Central Avenue.
”It’s really a high-traffic area of Cedarhurst,” he said. “People and cars are passing that store all the time.”
He also claims that the large picture windows out front are a strong asset.
“When people are sitting at the red light on Cedarhurst Avenue headed to Central Avenue, they get a really good view of the store’s display in those big front windows,” Handelsman said. “If you dress up those windows right, it can really draw attention to the store.”
The shop, located at 110 Cedarhurst Avenue, is 1,000 square feet. Handelsman did not indicate what the monthly rent will be. He did state that there was some type of pending litigation against his former tenant. However, Klausner claims that there were no issues arising from ending her lease.
Ruthie Amiram, owner of on Cedarhurst Avenue for 21 years, said she is not surprised that some store owners may attempt moving their business to another neighborhood, rather than close down completely.
“The owner of Uccelli may have better luck in another area,” she said. “I’m not doing as well here as I used to either. People who live in this area should really support the local stores instead of always going to malls and department stores.”
However, Amiram said that she doesn’t think that the former clothing store will remain vacant for too long. She claims that the vacancy problem isn’t as severe in Cedarhurst.
“The mayor even said that there aren’t as many empty stores in our village," she said, "and the ones that are vacant don’t seem to sit empty for as long as the other towns.”
