Tuesday
Mar042014
Cycle Bar, Rivet Close up Shop
Tuesday, March 4, 2025 at 7:50AM 
Two local businesses have shut down: Cycle Bar, the cycling studio that opened on 5th between First and Garfield in late 2010, and Rivet, the jeans-oriented clothing store that opened in August 2011 on Seventh between Union and President.
Cycle Bar, like uber-trendy Soul Cycle and Flywheel, held daily classes where customers could participate in group rides accompanied by dim lights and music. The landlord also owns the spaces that are currently home to Le Pain Quotidien and Grand Central Oyster Bar.
Rivet was run by the same owners as the also-shuttered Slope Jeans, and there's currently one other shop in operation, in Carroll Gardens. Many thanks to a tipster for letting me know that the whole shop has been emptied out.
tagged Closed for Business in Storefronts
Closed for Business in Storefronts
Reader Comments (9)
This landlord has not had the best of luck in picking tenants...jeez
Because he picks chains and Park Slopers hate chains (for the most part). Have you noticed that Le Pain Quotidien is almost always empty?
Actually come to think of it, so is Grand Central Oyster Bar.
Yes, Park Slope hates chains as evidenced by how empty Rite Aid and Barnes and Noble and Subway and CVS and Game Stop are all the time.
The jeans place was off the beaten path and I assume that is why they died (what sort of chain were they anyway??). As for the cycle place, that I don't know. La Pain (can't remember the full name) is empty because they have very little selection of things and nothing really exciting. Stopped in and got a chocolate croissant once and it was "ok"
The new Subway on 7th Avenue near Union is always empty, I have no idea how they stay in business.
Rivet closed because it was absurdly overpriced. Cheapest thing in there was $200. It was definitely not "off the beaten path" it was located on 7th Avenue and President ON 7th Avenue. There is a ton of foot traffic there. Slope Jeans was off the beaten path if you mean it was located on a side street and not ON 7th Avenue but that's not what we are talking about here.
Sure the chain drug stores do well here (and seemingly anywhere and everywhere), but I think the neighborhood is much more apt to support mom and pop stores.
These landlords don't care about the neighborhood anymore. Used to be some of them actually lived above these retail spaces, but most have left and use these buildings for one purpose and one purpose only: To make as much money per month as possible. That's it. They don't care that the obscene rent might put the business out of commission after a year and then leave the place vacant for 2 years before the next sucker comes along. They simply don't care about anything but money and that's what has now happened all over New York. The city is being ruined piece by piece due to the mallification and hyper gentrification all in the name of the holy dollar. There will come a point when 7th and 5th Avenues are lined with nothing but chains (in the next 5 years, I'd say) and then as you walk home from the subway, you will wonder...."why do I pay 2500 a month for a studio when all I see is Chipotle. Rite Aid, and Starbucks"
The city is losing its once independent flavor to corporations and big money and it really needs to stop before the whole city is totally ruined.
@lisa I agree , let's go back to the old days of the 1970s/80s. So much more diversity ( of burnt out buildings)
Sorry, I was confusing Rivet with another store. Carry on
The cycle place suffered from bad instructors. I took a couple of classes early on and wasn't a fan. Meanwhile, Flatbush Crunch fills a 60-bike spin room multiple times a day.
Lisa- actually the LLs more than "dont care", they actively HATE the neighborhood. In fact they hate the neighborhood so much that they intentionally charge rents that the neighborhood can not sustain, forcing out businesses who could pay rent, and then actively keep the stores vacant for years at time. Of course such a strategy would be really stupid if you cared about $ (both in the value of the RE and in the cash flow) BUT these LLs dont care about money, they are motivated by a simple disdain for Park Slope and they are willing to lose all their money as long as PS fails!
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