Eagle to Apple: Come to Brooklyn Heights

By on September 17, 2007 2:45 pm in News

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Amdist speculation of where a Brooklyn Apple Store may land, the Brooklyn Eagle throws down the gauntlet and asks the question "why not Brooklyn Heights"?:

Apple is “SCOURING Brooklyn, seeking a home in the 718 area code for a flagship Brooklyn Apple store,” says Racked.com. The blog suggests several of the borough’s hip neighborhoods for its first glossy, white outpost here: Red Hook, Smith Street, DUMBO, Downtown Brooklyn and Williamsburg. But there was one glaring omission: the 10,600-square-foot vacant retail space at Montague and Henry streets in affluent, highly trafficked Brooklyn Heights, within walking distance from almost every train line in the system.

Though residents there are getting sick of chain stores, Bill Ross, director of sales for Halstead Brooklyn, told the Eagle that the landlord wants to rent both the top and bottom floor space to only one retailer, making it a challenge to find a good fit.

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  • joe

    The top floor of the Montague location has been empty for a long time.

    I think Apple should take the corner store on State and Court. Its a much better location in terms of foot traffic and close to the courts and metrotech.

  • Chris

    Am I missing something? The only retail I know available on that corner is the
    space above Ann Taylor. This says it’s 2 floors though??? Anyway I think Apple
    would want to be in a cooler neighboorhood. Actually with Urban Outfitters going
    up on Atlantic, they would fit in good over there.

  • http://selfabsorbedboomer.blogspot.com Claude Scales

    Wot, Montague not cool? We got Ricky’s now. Besides, I live here (and so did Dylan, not to mention Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe, back in the day).

  • xy

    Is the Apple Store considered a “chain” store? I know they’re not local, but are they really akin to a Chipotle or a bank?

  • Homer Fink

    An Apple Store in that space is a game changer for Montague Street. Hello 21st Century!

  • No One of Consequence

    Personally an Apple store would be useless (I’m a Linux junkie, not a MSFT devotee).
    It really is the landlords ruining Montague. As an example, a single retailer requirement for that space.
    I miss having the Gap there (it was great for making returns from online purchases). That said, I think an Old Navy would be far more useful to more people than an Apple store.

  • BILLY BIG NUTZ

    > I’m a Linux junkie

    your way too cool to post here why don’t you go hack slashdot and have a nerd orgie then and wear your gap underwears

  • Beavis

    Oh Billy, tell it to your shrink.

  • GHB

    Apple would be a perfect fit for the Heights. Not necessarily Montague, but an Atlantic location would serve BH, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, etc. Enough with the clothing chains already.

  • Lee Greenfeld

    Claude, despite name-checking Montague Street in “Tangled Up In Blue,” Dylan never lived in the ‘hood… Arthur Miller — as well as Henry Miller, W.H. Auden, Norman Mailer, H.P. Lovecraft, and so on — indeed did!

  • Dose of Reality

    Fellow neighbors,
    I totally love my life in Brooklyn Heights… but let’s face facts people: it makes zero sense for Apple to open their Brooklyn store in lovely BH. Their brand is about youth, individuality, creativity and hipness. Yes, some cool people have lived here, and BH claims some artists, writers and celebrities as residents in the past and present. As compared to Smith Street, Dumbo, and Williamsburg, however, BH really doesn’t hold a candle in terms of fitting in with Apple’s brand image. As much as we’d like it… it ain’t happening!

  • ABC

    dumbo would be close enough for me

  • http://brooklynheightsblog.com Qfwfq

    I think everyone is forgetting the perfect neighborhood for an Apple store: Park Slope. If that area doesn’t fit in with Apple’s brand image, I don’t what neighborhood does.

  • GHB

    Dose of Reality, Yes Dumbo would work for me. As would Atlantic Ave. We have lots of MAC users in the Heights. You suggest Smith Street? Just a row of nice restaurants. Atlantic Ave would benefit all of us.

  • nancy

    True, the Heights is not cool, however, the proximity of St. Ann’s, Packer, Friends, St. Francis, Brooklyn Law and the other gen-xers who come to the neighborhood, do make this a great fit. That and the fact that almost every train station known to man is right here.

  • http://selfabsorbedboomer.blogspot.com Claude Scales

    Lee: I thought I had it on pretty good authority (a long-term Heights resident who said he could identify the building) that Dylan actually did crash with a friend here, if only for a brief stay. I was confident enough to add it to the Wikipedia entry on the Heights, but if you’re sure it ain’t so, I’ll go back and redact it (but will add another famous ex-resident, Gypsy Rose Lee, who, as you probably know and as recounted iin Sherrill Tippins’ February House, shared lodgings on Middagh Street with Auden, McCullers, Benjamin Britten, and Jane and Paul Bowles).

  • joe

    The two floors on Montague includes Jennifer Convertible on the ground floor. I can’t see any business needing that much space except for a chain store, reality or bank and the owner is unwilling to divide the space. The owner is obviously holding out for a chain store.

    Apple is not a good fit for Montague st esp far down as Henry. You need good foot traffic and at the nexus of several neighborhoods. Atlantic Ave/court makes much more sense due to combination of workers and residents and its close to subways. In terms of cool factor Dumbo is a good location as well as becoming a destination for furniture shopping but again not at the crux of different neighborhoods.

  • maia

    BH not hip enough? Come on, guys! There are plenty of young hipsters in our nabe – they’re just a little less showoffy than our Billysburg/Greenpoint neighbors. And yes, many of us are Mac users! I think a store on Atlantic would be awesome; it would be easily accessible to the Heights as well as the hipster-infested BoCoCa areas, and close enough to nabes like Dumbo, Fort Greene, the Slope, and Red Hook. Atlantic could use a bit more life west of Court Street anyway, so this would be perfect.

  • bornhere

    Maybe I’m missing the Hip Bus, but why do “BoCoCa” and “Billysburg” make my eyes roll? I then seem to refocus just in time to read “NoHe.” Does anyone who is really “from around here” use those monikers? Can’t Williamsburg and Carroll gardens just be?

  • Truth Williams

    Born – anyone of us who are Froarhe (from around here) know that silly names mean nothing.

  • JL

    Isn’t their a BoCoCa restaurant or coffee shop?

    All for apple moving into Brooklyn, i’ll take a store anywhere! (Of course, BH would be great) Still beats going to manhattan.

  • http://http:www.myspace.com/billyreno Billy Reno

    Wallet chain wearing Mac using BH hipster here. I’d love an Apple store in the nabe! especially if it were open 24 hrs. with weekend DJs!

  • bornhere

    Truth – ToFu (too funny)!

  • maia

    Yup, you’re missing the hip bus, bornhere. Don’t worry, we hipsters aren’t dangerous – we won’t force you to buy an iPod or some stretchy jeans! And rest assured, we already know that those of you who are “from around here” will always be way cooler than we are, no matter how reluctant you are to accept that things do change! Anyway, about the eye-rolling problem, you might want to see your ophthalmologist about that….

  • bornhere

    Tekserve anywhere on Court/Atlantic or in Park Slope could be a good thing.

  • Nite Lifer

    Apple doesn’t open stores where there are not already exisiting hi-end retail. SoHo, Glendale, The Grove in LA, even the one in Atlantic City to name a few. The 5th Ave store is an exception though FAO Schwartz counts and the landlord courted them heaavily. So once BR becomes a Co-Op, Housing Works a Marc Jacobs store, Starbucks a Dean & DeLuca and Five Guys a Ruth’s Chris, you won’t see Apple. And frankly, there’s not enough money in the Heights to shop at places like that. Hell, only the Euro tourists and their, well, Euros can afford to.

    Still, the idea of an Niketown and the crowd it would attract is just delicious top consider.

  • Lee Greenfeld

    Claude: I am indeed positive that Dylan never lived in the ‘hood though of course there’s the chance that in his early days he could’ve crashed at someone’s place on Montague for a spell, as he was couch surfing for a bit when he first hit town… Sadly, I have read one too many books on Bob (20+).