After causing quite a stir (and a bit of community outcry) when closing Lee Lee's Bakery a couple of weeks ago, Mr. Lee has just informed folks that he will be opening again today. Mr. Lee had felt forced to close last month when walk-in traffic slackened dramatically. The apparent outpouring of support during the week he decided to shutter may have convinced him to not throw in the towel just yet. So make sure you go out this weekend and buy a dozen of his world famous rugelach (seriously, they're said to be the best in the city)! Remember, Harlem, let's use it or lose it. Lee Lee's Bakery is at 283 West 118th Street, between Frederick Douglass Boulevard (8th Avenue) and St. Nicholas Avenue. Tel. 917-493-6633. The closest subway is the B,C or 2,3 at 116th Street. Photo by Ulysses
Saturday, June 19, 2010
☞ REVIVE: Lee Lee's Bakery to Open Again Today
After causing quite a stir (and a bit of community outcry) when closing Lee Lee's Bakery a couple of weeks ago, Mr. Lee has just informed folks that he will be opening again today. Mr. Lee had felt forced to close last month when walk-in traffic slackened dramatically. The apparent outpouring of support during the week he decided to shutter may have convinced him to not throw in the towel just yet. So make sure you go out this weekend and buy a dozen of his world famous rugelach (seriously, they're said to be the best in the city)! Remember, Harlem, let's use it or lose it. Lee Lee's Bakery is at 283 West 118th Street, between Frederick Douglass Boulevard (8th Avenue) and St. Nicholas Avenue. Tel. 917-493-6633. The closest subway is the B,C or 2,3 at 116th Street. Photo by Ulysses
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People commenting on this site had some good suggestions for how the owner could increase his business (advertising, signage, pricing, displaying items, etc) so let's hope he takes note. Otherwise things might not be much better than before. Or perhaps he could just focus on the large order shipping side of the business instead and not have to worry about walk-in retail.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree. I went buy on his putative last Saturday fully intending to buy something but I found the place oddly off-putting. The door was shut, the curtains drawn and there were no signs of life.
ReplyDeleteA hipster chick rolled up on her bicycle full of intent but she, too, seemed taken aback.
Pull the curtains, open the door, do something with the half dead trees, maybe put out a couple of small cafe tables. . .
Let's support Mr. Lee on the financial and morale end for now. Maybe a backer can work out the other problems later on. I will be by this weekend Mr. Lee!
ReplyDeleteWhy don't we just cut out the middle and simply write Mr. Less a check? Does he take direct deposit or paypal?
ReplyDeleteGod forbid we make him responsible for his business, or expect he himself to spruce up the appearance of his place to make it more inviting, how dare anyone suggest he advertise and promote his business, attractive signs, promotions, and sales, and why on earth should he make small freebie samples handed out by a person on the sidewalk for the morning and afternoon walk by foot traffic.
I say the welfare ring of support should extend to Mr. Lee as it does so many others, no questions, and why? Well he's Mr. Lee and we like him. So standard that apply to others, need not to Mr. Lee.
True, he may not be into being a retailing merchant-baker, however that's okay, we're into him and that's all that counts. Perhaps Harlem Bespoke will hole a fund raiser, add a paypal button on this website where we can directly send Mr. Lee money.
Those old Harlem businesses? Bobby's House of Music, Copelands, M&G's, etc. and so forth? Well they deserved to go out of business because of their own lack of business acumen and they rightfully did not deserve any rallying by the community, especially the gentrified community! There is no double standard here, for the right reasons we did not lift a finger to help the old Harlem business, after all, it's their business and not ours!
But Mr. Lee? He's different. He's special. He's one of us (wink wink). He need not be responsible, he should not be expected to earn a living an survive via his own smarts and business acumen. We all should open our wallets and save this sacred cow, after all, he's basically an institution in Harlem that we can't let die.
@Noon
ReplyDeleteA little sarcasm goes a long way my brother.
Nothing wrong with a helping hand every now and again.
@ noon needs to get his facts straight. The reason people are rallying around Mr. Lee is not out of sympathy but because he is simply one of the best bakers. Frequenting Mr. Lee Lee is not giving a helping hand. It is supporting a business that may not have modern business acumen but that offers unique and delicious baked goods to the community.
ReplyDeleteDo the math. It must cost a few thousand dollars per month to run the bakery. How much per rugelach has to go toward those expenses? 25 cents? 50 cents? 70 cents? Whatever that cost is it translates into many thousands of rugelach per month. In order to sell that many rugelach to walk-in customers there is going to have to be a line of those customers every single day the bakery is open. I've walked by Lee Lee's for years and have rarely seen more than two customers at a time, let alone a line stretching toward Frederick Douglass. How many of us readers are going to buy a dozen rugelach a day every day?
ReplyDeleteI wish Mr. Smalls well but unless he finds a way to increase wholesale sales or begins selling a few dozen rugelach per day online the increased income is not going to arrive.
Some of the snobbery on this site is simply amazing. The only suggestion made was to patronize the business and here comes Anonymous 12pm with an obnoxious whine about welfare. Apparently for you, the faster Harlem becomes the Upper West Side, the better.
ReplyDeleteThere are people who clearly like Mr. Lee's products. Is it wrong for them to try to promote them, or attempt to help him out?
There is justification to a welfare perspective on the bakery. He may make the best rugelach in the city, but there are apparently not enough old timers in harlem buying rugelach on a regular basis. What there are however is a bunch of new people moving to harlem that are looking for decent services. People that do not read the harlem bespoke blog. Just people who are walking down the street. There needs to be something welcoming to draw in new customers. And as one of those people who just happened to walk by mr lees before he closed, I have to tell you the appearance did not invite me in and I normally go out of my way to find hidden food gems. Sure, now i know and will get some rugelach, but unless mr lee fills the cases and has someone behind the counter prospective customers are going to walk on by. Cheerleading on this blog is not going to keep him in business.
ReplyDeleteIs there justification to a welfare perspective on the bakery? Would that be the same justification that got developers around here millions of dollars in tax breaks? Is it the same justification that got Best Yet a million dollars from the Upper Manhattan Development Fund? Corporate welfare comes right out of our pockets and we have no choice in the matter. Buying rugelach and spreading the word about something good is hardly the same thing.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of Mr. Lee's situation, businesses still need incentives to come to Harlem. Best Yet took the risk - a very expensive risk - and whatever amount they got from UMDF is justified because the area sorely needed a quality grocer for the burgeoning population. Best Yet has been phenomenally responsive to customers and is a huge success in this neighborhood. In fact I would say that so far it is the best thing that has happened to this part of Harlem.
ReplyDeleteI am all for Mr Lee going and getting a zoning subsidized small business loan to redo his store and hire some staff to man the counter. Maybe even put some product in the window. SO yes that kind of welfare I am all for! just cheerleading that someone who is a nice person and a better cook than a businessman is going to magically survive for the long term in a changing business district is more realistic than it is unsympathetic.
ReplyDelete