Rowf Space Rented – What’s It Gonna Be?

By on May 17, 2010 6:09 pm in Real Estate

Karl Junkersfeld photo

Karl Junkersfeld photo


Floors were being sanded today at the former Rowf space on Middagh and Hicks in Brooklyn Heights. Looks like a new tenant is moving in and we’re betting (or make that Karl is thinking) that it will be a coffee shop. Of course I hope it would be a SWEET SHOP you know like Louie ran in the Bowery Boys but that’s just me. What do you think it will be? Not should… will.

On another note, Karl adds that the design firm across Hicks is not moving out as rumored.

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  • AEB

    Well, as a VERY proximate tenant, I’m delighted to hear that the space has been rented.

    I have little hope that the new shop, whatever it turns out to be, will be “finished” with as much aesthetic attention as it got as ROWF, but….fingers crossed.

    Of course, having it rented is the important part….

  • nabeguy

    Actually, HF, it was Evelyn who ran the last candy store in that space in the 60’s. No counter or ice cream sodas but plenty of button candy and root beer barrels. In other words, heaven to the neighborhood kids. Given its proximity to the school, I’ve never understood why nobody has taken advantage of the under-10-year-old-set since then. Maybe the new tenant has figured that out.

  • Karl Junkersfeld

    nabeguy, don’t you remember the candy/coffee store that was there prior to ROWF? Can’t remember her name but she and her Israeli husband ran it for a few years. I agree that the coffee was less than memorable but non the less, it existed. AEB, back me up on this one. Can’t remember her name, though.

    Now, I’m convinced the next shop there will be an upscale, yes upscale, coffee shop. They are succeeding everywhere they pop up. Just look at Iris Cafe, Crop to Cup and Cafe Pedlar on Court and Warren. It’s happening. New Yorkers love their Cafe Au Lait to start the day.

    What was her name????

  • AEB

    Sorry, Karl, I’m a BH nwbie. Relatively….

    But are we SURE the place has been rented? I know there was a realty company sign in the window for two weeks or so, and then it disappeared. Could the place have been snapped up THAT quickly?

  • Karl Junkersfeld

    I questioned the individual that was sanding the floor and he said that the place has been rented but couldn’t tell me what kind of business was moving in. Whether he is a credible source is debatable. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.

  • Josh Goodman

    Me likey. If it is indeed a coffee shop, I’m curious to see how much of Tazza’s crowd they poach.

  • Homer Fink

    This could be the world headquarters of BHB. Sure.

  • nancy

    I remembr that coffe shop..I used to go there when I ws on maternity leave, some 13 years ago!! I would love a real candy store in the neighborhood…save me the schlep of going to Dewey’s or Economy Candy.

  • kb

    i used to live across the street from that shop – about 10 years ago. it was Paula who ran the coffee/candy shop. she was pleasant and friendly and i always wondered what happened to her.

  • Karl Junkersfeld

    kb,

    Thank you very much. I’ll be able to sleep tonight. PAULA. She was a hard working and pleasant individual and tried very hard to make the place work.

  • David on Middagh

    Paula sold kosher muffins, too. My sister loved that place.

  • nabeguy

    kb, if I’m not mistaken, she had another coffee shop in Brooklyn, so maybe she ended up there.

  • jessibaby

    I thought it would be a great spot for an upscale consignment store – complete with stuff for the kids.

  • David on Middagh

    I predict it will be… a Freecycle exchange!

    (OK, maybe some wishful thinking crept in there.)

  • Ben

    Paula lived in Bayside, Queens.

  • http://www.melaniehopegreenberg.com melanie hope greenberg

    Was that the store/deli the Chapin family (Harry, Tom) owned for a long time? They made sandwiches, sold sodas, chips, coffee, iced coffee. Around in the late 70’s into the early 90’s.

  • BH Lover

    If a coffee place goes in, it will be full of happy PS8 parents and teachers!

  • Karl Junkersfeld

    melanie,

    Maybe looking at the following clip from YouTube will jar your memory. lol

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EKPg4MKSeQ

  • ABC

    realtor told me it was a “no food” lease so I doubt it’s a coffee spot

  • Andrew Porter

    This place also gets a tremendous number of tourists walking past, en route to and from the Promenade and Brooklyn Bridge.

    “Paula’s Place” was a coffee and tea shop, with sidelines in candy, muffins, and newspapers. It was across from Biblo Books, the used book store run by Jack Biblo and his wife Frances, retired former co-owners of Biblo & Tannen, a used bookstore and publisher (Canaveral Press) on 4th Avenue and 9th Street in Manhattan.

  • nabeguy

    Melanie, the place you speak of was called “The Hicks Brothers Deli” and was opened by Tom and Harry’s half-brother, Jeb, in the space now occupied by Tutt Cafe. The Chapin/Hart family did grow up right next to the store at 47-1/2 Hicks Street in the 60’s, when it was first run as a traditional German deli by the Schlemer family and then by the Milan family from Hungary. The best roast beef sandwich in NY (baked fresh every morning) but unfortunately it couldn’t survive the closing of the Squibb plant (now the Watchtower) which was good for 60% or so of it’s daily business. The weirdest thing I remember about that deli was that the landlord would take his rent in provisions; once a month, he’d pull up in front of the deli and proceed to load up his car with whatever he needed.

  • http://www.melaniehopegreenberg.com melanie hope greenberg

    @nabeguy – I think the Chapin’s lived at 136 Hicks St as well. ps Ur cuz Friended me out of the blue recently, wife saw my comments here. Small world.

  • nabeguy

    Melanie, you’re right about 136 Hicks. The whole fam moved there when they left 47 (I won’t go into the details). I’ll have to look Wayne up….seems odd that you Friended him before his cousin did. Small world indeed but apparently a large family.