GREENWICH VILLAGE — Turns out you won't be able to grab some wax with your waffle cone after all.
Management of the decades-old West Third Street record store Bleecker Bob's Golden Oldies said Monday night that a deal to keep a music counter inside the frozen yogurt shop that has leased the space is "almost definitely off" as the vinyl gurus prepare to move out as soon as this weekend.
The store manager who has been brokering a potential arrangement with the Chicago-based company Forever Yogurt said he appreciated the effort to pay homage to the 118 W. Third St. shop's legacy, but the notion of a dessert shop with only a "small space" devoted to music was "insulting."
"They were nice enough to consider us, but being in the back of a yogurt shop is a slap in the face," said the manager, who gave his name as Ski. "This is Bleecker Bob's."
Forever Yogurt, which will take over the space in May, was not immediately available to comment on the status of the deal.
Bleecker Bob's management is looking at multiple potential locations in the East Village, Ski said.
If no deal is complete by the end of the month, the record shop will be forced to put its goods into storage.
The two-in-one store proposal would have given about 300 square feet of the 1,400-square-foot space to Bleecker Bob's, with the rest devoted to self-serve frozen yogurt. The rent being sought by Forever Yogurt from Bleecker Bob's is too high, added Ski, who has worked at the record shop for the past seven years.
"It ended up being about a quarter of the current space for about half of the current rent," he said, declining to provide dollar amounts. "They're asking for too much to just stick us in a small space in the back."
Limor Eliyahu, the broker for the building owner, confirmed the current lease for the space involves only the yogurt shop.
Forever Yogurt is slated to open in June.
