Perelandra Going Out of Business

By on September 18, 2024 2:34 pm in 11201, Brooklyn Heights, Commercial Real Estate, Food, Local Businesses, News, Shopping

Perelandra Natural Foods, 175 Remsen Street, in business in Brooklyn Heights since 1976, will be closed permanently following close of business this Sunday. The news was broken by reader “Banet” on Open Thread Wednesday, who is quoted in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle as saying a cashier at the store said Perelandra hadn’t lost its lease but that it couldn’t afford a rent increase. The cashier also said the departure of St. Francis College had hurt business, as faculty and staff were regular customers. The Eagle story gives other local residents’ reactions to the news.

Photo by Mary Kim for BHB.

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  • Jorale-man

    Picking up this convo from open thread, I wonder if the opening of Food Town took away some of their business. Yes, FT is not a health food store but I imagine some people shopped at Perelandra simply because it was convenient and nearby. And that block of Remsen is looking increasingly forlorn.

  • Banet

    I said the same thing to my wife.

    It’s not like the audience for the two stores overlaps 100%, but even if 2% or 3% of the customers that were in the area and needed to grab some milk or a dozen eggs and didn’t really care about the ethos of the store? You may have gone to Perelandra for convenience instead of going another block north to Fresh Start (still Garden of Eden to me) but now you find Food Town equally convenient and much better priced.

    And while 3% may not sound like a lot, margins are razor thin in the supermarket business.

    I also think their location hurt them. All the new residents of the new apartment towers on Montague and Clinton? They likely never had a reason to walk down that block as they’re hardly anything there. A yoga studio and a coffee shop is about it.

    NYSC closing.
    Hale & Hearty closing.
    St. Francis closing.
    Covid.
    Food Town.

    They’re all paper cuts that add up. :-/

  • LP

    This is so, so devastating!!! Really wondering where I can get all my groceries of the same quality now.

  • Peter Scott-Thomas

    You make some good points, but let's REALLY think outside the box. There WERE a few video stores (VHS tapes mostly for 5-10 years, wouldja believe?) in Brooklyn Heights, and Netflix began by mailing out DVD's. To almost anyone living in 2024, that's every bit as quaint as "buggy whips."

    How long will it be before it becomes idiotic to sell what FT and Perelandra both sell – granted, there are some importance differences between them – from "storefronts," especially ones occupying thousands of sq. feet?!

    Imagine if Amazon or Fresh Direct took over the big empty (old CVS) space at Clinton & Montague and put in lockers that let people eliminate some or all of their "supermarket runs!"

    In this neighborhood & forum, a couple of vocal people will aver: "I WOULD NEVER. . ." but I think they're kidding themselves.

    Nobody PREFERS a laundromat to having a washer-dryer in their apt. THAT one isn't always legal or practical, but brick-and-mortar grocery stores barely make more sense than BH having (not any more!) 3-6 big chain drug stores, when almost everything on their shelves can be delivered next day. For a lot less, because you don't have to compensate CVS for what it loses to shoplifters.

    There's a pet-oriented store on Court that all but BEGS people to shop there, because HE "is raising a family in the community." His doors are still open – and maybe, that's wonderful at some level, but … how much longer will he survive when the economics are so very bad?

    You gotta "know when to fold 'em," and I wish the owners of Perelandra well – they're sound of mind … AND they've served our community well for many years. But it's a different world than when they were a startup!