Business & Tech
East Village Cafe To Close After 17 Years
The cafe's owners say the "retail small business model has become nearly impossible to sustain" in NYC.
EAST VILLAGE, NY — The longtime East Village cafe Ciao for Now will close its doors on Feb. 1 after 17 years in the neighborhood, its owners announced this month.
The neighborhood cafe, located at 523 E. 12th St., was owned and operated by a local family for nearly two decades.
"We feel like we gave it everything we’ve got but as we are seeing all over NYC, the retail small business model has become nearly impossible to sustain," owners Amy and Kevin Miceli said in a statement.
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The restaurant, which serves full meals along with coffee and other pastries, previously closed its location in the West Village in 2015, according to the local news blog EV Grieve.
The neighborhood spot is the latest in a long-running string of independent businesses that have shuttered in Manhattan thanks to spiraling rent prices and other factors making profitability elusive for locally-owned companies.
Find out what's happening in East Villagefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
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