As seems to now be the normal ebb and flow of commerce in NYC, there's been a rash of local restaurants and shops that have gone out of business this year due to rent hikes, consumer apathy, and the overall increase in the cost of doing business when you're not a billion dollar corporation. Beloved West Village shop Tea & Sympathy is the latest local business to feel that crunch—and they're asking customers and locals to contribute to try to stay afloat.
Tea & Sympathy, which serves a classic selection of British teas and treats, was first opened on Greenwich Avenue by British-born Nicky Perry in 1990, and quickly turned into an Anglophile-friendly oasis downtown. She later opened a British grocery shop, Carry On Tea & Sympathy, on the same block in 1994, and a fish-and-chips restaurant, A Salt & Battery, in 1999.
But now, as empty store fronts appear more and more in the neighborhood, Perry is scared her stores are next, and has launched a GoFundMe to try to stave that off. "We have stood by and watched all of the local businesses who made the West Village what it is today lose to landlords and buyouts and profit losses. We are trying so hard not to be added to that list," she wrote.
"These funds will be used to help lower our loan repayments, pay our vendors, pay our real estate taxes, assist in our rent which for our three businesses is a whopping $28,000 per month plus real estate taxes which as landlords refinance the building increase yearly." So far, they've raised more than $5K as of 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
She also told amNY that she turned to GoFundMe because she is afraid her landlords won't renew her lease at the end of the year because of all she owes. "This morning, I was thinking, 'How am I going to do this? I'm never, ever going to make enough money,'" she said. "It made me cry."
