this place was always overrated. have you ever tried the freshly made croissants? they are terrible.

Now THIS would be a huge loss. Just a wonderful place all around, with great cookies, pies, and ice cream. The ice cream is very underrated.

Lots of newer places further south, but Trois Pommes just always seems to be at the right place at the right time.

Let's hope this goes the way of Sephora at Triangle Sports.

Freddie, have you had the ice cream? The cupcakes? The sugar cookies? The whoopee pies? The donuts?

I think not.

I'm not a fan of their croissants, but who needs croissants from anywhere but Café Dada in this neighborhood? In a class of their own.

Typical complainer.

Ugh, this sucks. She makes the best damn carrot cake and there was a time I was addicted to her jelly donuts...like an addict I had to put myself through jelly donut rehab, though. What a shame. Hoping she relocates somewhere nearby. Will travel for that carrot cake! And the cookies...and whoopie pies...

The way the neighborhood is going, it will become a 7-11.

You gotta sell a lot of croissants to pay that kind of rent (not to mention the cost of flour, eggs, milk, salaries, insurance, utilities). Sterling is right: the economics of Fifth Ave. will make it a far less interesting place.

By the way, every time I pass by the Grand Central Oyster Bar outlet on Fifth Ave., it is two-thirds empty. What goes?

It's not like Le Pain is stealing her customers. There are too many options in the neighborhood. I figured they were hurting when I saw them show up at the farmers market. Sucks to see small businesses close. That second lease is a bitch, she's probably in there for half that now.

Sad to hear that she is closing up shop but the landlords along 5th are jacking up everyone's rent over the next year. Get ready for some empty storefronts along 5th Ave. from Union to 3rd street. Some have been hinted at for months (Trois Pommes & Loki included) but some will be very surprising (*cough Blue Ribbon cough*).

According to my wife, who spoke with the owner, the shop will be moving to Sunset Park.

If the tenant signed a 5yr lease, they were advised very poorly. When you sign a retail lease you HAVE to get a long-term lease.
Cant blame the landlord, they have a product and they will sell that at the market price. Just like Trois Pommes sells cronuts for $4 a piece.

But a retail store who is building a business HAS to get a long-term lease so they dont lose all the equity they build when a short-term lease comes up.

Grand Central Oyster Bar will not make it - and it wont be the LL fault either. The place is a mess.

First the decor was barely changed except in the Oyster Bar Area; so anyone entering the restaurant part, gets no sense that this place is an "Oyster Bar" (at a minimum they should have moved to one single entrance so when you come in, it 'feels' like an oyster bar'.

Next the menu is beyond thin. Sure they have a big selection of oysters but, Park Slope families arent coming in to eat Oysters 2x a week. They need a large fish and seafood selection.

The "soft" opening was dumb, they lost all the excitement of a grand opening

The 'drinking' bar should be moved to the Oyster Bar section - its depressing, like an upscale Jackies 5th Amendment

Last they need seat people together instead of spread out across a barn sized room. the place is too quiet, its more like a romantic restaurant then a 'Bar".

Anyway its a shame, even if they addressed all of the above - they missed the boat, and likely wont make it.

Take a deep breath people. The closing of a bakery, while disappointing, is not evidence that a neighborhood is in decline or becoming less interesting. It just means that it does not work in this particular location. Maybe something better will come along?

We have decided after decades in Park Slope to sell and move this spring. The neighborhood has lost so much of the character it once had. It's a bit sad but we're excited to start a new chapter somewhere else. It's not just the retail, it's a total loss of people saying hello, people sweeping their streets and a seeming desire for chain stores that will eventually choke the neighborhood and make it feel like a suburb. It's certainly great to see some of the changes, but this neighborhood no longer suits us as it once did.

Sterling: My block is the home of people who say hello, shovel each others walkways, look in on elderly residents, have block parties, dinner parties, tag sales, etc. New owners include families of every description. While I agree that the commercial real estate market is squeezing out small entrepreneurs, there still is enough character to make a trip to Seventh Ave. or Fifth Ave. tolerable, despite crowds, tourists, double-wide strollers and dogs on leashes (both being pushed or pulled by the same person and on a Saturday, to boot). Sorry your leaving, but good luck wherever you go.

Marty,

My new neighbors are all multi-millionaires who work a ton, spend time doting on their kids and do little else to support the neighborhood. They simply don't have the time (or perhaps the inclination). They allow trash to pour out of their trash cans, they order all their food from Fresh Direct and send their kids to private school. I have nothing against them and it's great to have people come in with money, but this is not the neighborhood I signed up for any longer. I prefer more diversity in income, in retail, in people. It's become too overwhelmingly white, priveledged for us. How could it not when a shabby 1 bedroom costs 500K and a townhouse is upwards of 3 million! The cost has shut out anyone without an income under 100K and the stores I see coming in make me think, why do I need to pay such high living costs to live in a neighborhood soon to be filled with chain stores found in anywhere USA.

Check out Brownstoner's rental of the day today. A 1 bedroom rental for $3500 a month. You have to be making over 200K a year to afford that and even then you'd still be "struggling"

It's time for us to cash out.

Sterling - unless you moved here in the very early 60's, your prior neighbors said essentially the same thing about you.
But in a word. Bye

The only people who complained when we moved in were the prostitutes who worked on Lincoln Place at the hot sheet hotel turned condos behind the Brooklyn Conservatory and the junkies and dealers who used to hang out on 7th Avenue (forget about 5th Avenue, that was barely even considered Park Slope back then).

(That was a joke, btw). Despite the drugs and hookers, it was an exciting time and you could feel the impending renaissance in the air. The community involvement and spirit of renewal was everywhere. Obviously it all worked out great as Park Slope is a wealthy neighborhood again, just as it was when it was built. I think we're just some of the leftover artist/hippy types that don't see ourselves retiring amongst bankers and hedge fund managers. I'm happy to have been a part of the changes at our neighborhood schools and with the landmarking of the area.

Sterling you can pretend differently but you are in a long line (40yrs now) of gentrifiers who move to Park Slope and then later complain that the next wave of people are too rich, not dedicated to the neighborhood and otherwise ruined it.

Here is an article from 32 years ago - the complaints sound familiar:

http://www.nytimes.com/1981/11/01/realestate/post-pioneer-arrivals-keep-park-slope-in-flux.html

This will make those happy who love super overpriced yuppie lobster! Bring on more CHAINS!

http://gothamist.com/2014/02/12/lukes_lobster_park_slope.php

Bklynmind:

Clearly you didn't see how I said I'm happy Park Slope is doing well now. It was afterall built as a wealthy enclave. And while we're a bit emotional about leaving, we know it's the right choice for us and are tremendously excited about it. Sure, the fact that we'll reap the monetary benefit of having bought so long ago won't hurt either but we also put in a lot of work. Don't feel sorry for me, this is a choice!

If you don't see how the inequality issues in this city have become dangerous though, you're not looking very hard. NYC has worse income inequality than much of Africa. Don't you worry though, Park Slope is on an upward trajectory towards high end affluence. It should be Greenwich, CT lite in no time (oh wait too late). :)

Sterling,

And here is a similar letter to the editor from 41 years ago - same complaint as you:

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F10E17FA3F5C147A93C3A9178FD85F478785F9

Big difference from $200,000 brownstones in 1981 to 4 million dollar brownstones today given that the median income has changed by only about 15-20K since then.

Trois Pomme was good but were already seeing new bakeries like Buttermilk and they wont be the last.

@Sterling Id wager PS has done a better job than most hoods at positively managing gentrification. Any nice neighborhood you move to will likely undergo the same if they arent already experiencing it but its always a loss when proud and productive members of the community leave.

I ate at Grand Central Oyster Bar the other night. The food was wonderful. I honestly preferred it to Fish Camp.

I say they make it.