WEST VILLAGE — Chocolate Bar, a favorite coffee spot of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, is closing shop for good at the end of this month, after 13 years on Eighth Avenue.
In an email to her staff, owner Alison Nelson explained her decision.
"Over the past year, we have fought the struggle with rising costs and stagnant sales due to street construction and difficult weather," Nelson wrote. "We have seen much of our neighborhood change over the past few years, fought three years of street work right outside our door, and watched many of our fellow small businesses and neighbors leave due to rising rents and expenses.
All of this has taken a steady and sometimes biting toll upon us and our operations."
The decision is not due to any increase in rent, Nelson said.
Chocolate Bar will continue to sell goods from their website, and their store in Manasquan, N.J., remains open, Nelson said, as well as the stores they have in other countries.
"I never envisioned leaving the West Village, a place that has been my home for nearly 20 years, and Chocolate Bar's home for over a decade," Nelson said. "It is my hope that we can return to doing what I built the company upon: creating great, interesting products, while incorporating the arts, culture and community."
Chocolate Bar gained some fame after Hoffman's death, when reports came out that it was one of the last places the late actor visited. Hoffman lived a few blocks away on Bethune Street was a regular at the coffee shop, according to The New York Times, purchasing his morning espresso there almost everyday, and frequently popping in for ice cream with his kids in warmer weather.
The store's last day will be Sunday, April 26, Nelson said in her email.