CHELSEA — The owner of a Ninth Avenue hardware store rumored to be closing maintains that the longtime shop is not going out of business — despite a real estate firm marketing the space for a new tenants.
Chelsea Convenience Hardware, which has been in business for 20 years, currently operates out of a storefront at 241 Ninth Ave., near West 25th Street.
A recent listing on Winick Realty Group’s website offers a “retail opportunity” on the ground floor of the building, which also houses Empire Grocery & Deli and a Dunkin’ Donuts.
A brochure attached to the listing includes a “conceptual rendering” that depicts the storefront without its current tenants.
A "conceptual rendering" of the space included in a brochure on Winick's website.
A sign hanging in Chelsea Convenience Hardware’s window, meanwhile, says the business isn’t going anywhere.
“Contrary to rumors being spread around the neighborhood, we are open and will continue to be welcoming our old, as well as our new customers,” the sign reads.
A man identifying himself as the store’s owner initially said another business in the neighborhood had been circulating rumors about a closure, but he declined to comment any further or provide his name.
Contacted by phone, the Winick agents marketing the property declined to discuss the listing and deferred questions to the building's property manager. A spokeswoman for Winick said she didn't have any information to provide.
When contacted last week, a woman who identified herself as the property manager insisted she wasn’t aware the listing existed.
“We’re not pushing anyone out — they’re our tenants,” said the manager for Elk Investors, who also declined to provide her name. “We’re not looking for new tenants — we have no clue what this is about.
“We just renovated that building, and we’re very happy with our tenants,” she added.
The manager at Dunkin' Donuts said he couldn't comment on the listing, and the deli's manager couldn't be reached for comment.
Jeffrey Turkel, an attorney at the real estate law firm Rosenberg & Estis, said “[dis]reputable commercial brokers" have been known to list properties that aren’t available.
“It’s basically kind of a bait-and-switch,” he explained. “It’s just like a sale item that doesn’t even exist anymore, but then they’ve got you in the store.”
However, Turkel had never heard of such an instance involving “a player of Winick’s size."
“I’ve heard situations where property not for sale or list has been advertised by unscrupulous real estate brokers as being available… but it surprised me in this situation given that Winick is a well-established real estate broker in the city,” he explained.
He also suggested the listing could have been the result of an administrative error.
