So basically the rent is too expensive for major national chains as well. That corridor is starting to feel like a dead zone.

If you look at previous comments from neighbors, they called that this was going to fail before it even opened.

Landlords should pay more attention to their local clientele. Didn't this place spend over 60K on renovations tearing out the historic charm of leaf n bean to turn into this place?

Not at all shocking no one was ever in there. Yes, we all knew this was going to fail. What a waste of money and a beautiful storefront.

But the roast beef is made from turkey. How can that not succeed??!!

Ahh Subway, the ShakeShack of sandwich places.

Judging by the line out the door at Shake Shack yesterday, they have nothing in common. Never saw more than 1 person eating at a time in this very sad looking subway.

@Rick: you say "historic charm." I say dumpy neglect. Leaf & Bean was a poorly run business through and through.

Leaf and Bean lasted 42 years. That is the exact opposite of a poorly run business.

You want to see poorly, run look ^^^^ at this Subway franchise which closed in under 2 years and tore that place apart and lined it with yellow laminate.

I for one am thrilled this horrible place is closing.
And I miss Leaf N Bean too.

Yeah, Uma, because no one has ever eaten at a Subway restaurant.

Subways are individually owned, this was a small business owner with the patine of a massive corporation.

Either way it was a bad location choice and this may be the first time ever this blog is completely representative of the neighborhoods interest.

@uma: The Subway on 7th is an unwanted disaster and they didn't do the buildings any favor, for saying L&B was open for 41 years hides the point. For the last 8 years of its existence, it had new owners who weren't particularly adept at running a business or presenting themselves to a changing neighborhood. Look at how successful new coffee shops around the Slope have been, and convince me that the former owners aren't responsible for at least some of the blame for L&B's failures.

BTW, there's a typo in my comment above. It should say: "The Subway on 7th is an unwanted disaster and they didn't do the building or interiors any favor, but saying L&B was open for 41 years hides the point."

L&B did go downhill over the last few years.

But to say that any business that lasts for over 4 decades is unsuccessful is disrespectful and simply untrue in my opinion. They served the neighborhood very well for many many years. Longer than 90% of businesses in the neighborhood. They started to lose business and didn't change with the times, but that does not define the business it was a small blip towards the end.

A closing that's actually good for the neighborhood. Park Slope doesn't want or need these kinds of places. Cheeburger closed, Subway closing it's nice to know there is at least a minimal standard of quality control in Park Slope's microcosm of capitalism.

The rent will hopefully attract some good possibilities, I've already written to a few today to let them know about this news.

@uma: We may be arguing over semantics here (after all, isn't that what blog commenters are for?), but would you agree with the following: "At the time of its closing, Leaf & Bean, under newer ownership, was not a particularly well-run business that failed to make minor upgrades to adopt with the times"? I believe Leaf & Bean would still be open today had the then-current owners invested wisely in their store. I was disappointed when it closed.

I think as far as blog commenters go, we're agreeing.

I think, had they done some things differently they could have held on longer, yes. But I also think that for decades, they were very well run and I loved to visit the store often. The new owners came just at the time Park Slope was going from really nice, to outrageously expensive. I think they needed to update the store and stock to reflect the changing demographics, but they did not.

Butter Lane is for rent for $5500.

Not as good a location as this (and this one comes with a backyard!) but at least those are 2 semi-reasonable spaces for rent. Can't believe almost 8K a month is considered semi-reasonable these days.

10 years ago, 4-5K tops (which was only 2004 keep in mind). Sure does pay to have a bought a building on 5th Ave or 7th Avenue 30 years ago.

Butter Lane: http://www.crelisting.net/Jjk26NI1w

Okay, so actually the Subway space is a MUCH better deal than Butter Lane then.

Butter Lane: 700sf, no garden, mediocre part of PS not near trains. $5500

Subway: 1100sf plus 900 sf patio in Prime PS near trains. $7975

I'd take the Subway space any day. Plus it's much more attractive from the outside and gets tons of foot traffic on way to/from trains and greenmarket and Prospect Park.

Actually, Butter Lane is in a high-traffic part of the Slope - a block and a half from Methodist, which, I believe, has the most foot traffic from employees and visitors in the Slope. And it's near a couple of very large schools too. The problem is that the Methodist lunch crowd tends to go for quick, cheap and easy, so I'm betting whatever goes in there will be ho-hum.

Well this was predictable but everyone here seems to ignore that stores like this are generally owned by middle class franchisees who must work insane hours to even make a living. So while I am glad that we may bet a better store here, I will say I feel bad for the owner...who just like the mom and pop owners who endear everyone especially concern.....likely saw his life savings and dreams crushed.

Why didn't ButterLane succeed? I actually liked their cupcakes when they first came to the slope. You could go next door to Konditori for a great coffee, grab a cupcake and walk 2 avenues up to the park and sit with the paper. Am actually surprised this didn't work out.

I am glad to see that the Subway going. The commenters above suggests the Subway franchisee to be "mom & pop" and/or someone whose dream had been crushed. That's sad if it's true but I don't understand the level of cluelessness that leads to opening a Subway on this block: the walk-in cookbook idea was obviously more original but just as obviously unrealistic. By the way, L&B moved around the corner for its last two years. I don’t quite understand how the concept of L&B could have been freshened to keep it “successful”—much of the charm of the place was that the store felt old and real—I LOVED THOSE WINDOWS!

Why are landlords so stupid as to let properties sit empty for so long? Is there not a method of lowering rents with clauses for increases based on profits? The only businesses that can even possibly make money are restaurants, and 7th Ave. is already saturated with restaurants. There are so many vacant properties on 7th Ave at this point; seems like there's a lot of stupidity to go around...

Location, location, location. If I'm in that area, and I want a sandwich, I have many other options. I have Bierkraft. I have Zito's. I have the Larder. All affordable better options.

This should have been built closer to the hospital, where the types of people who frequent places like this work, or in the South Slope, where poorer people live. Still, though, we want them to avoid eating fast food like this. The bread at Subway has shoe preservatives in it. You don't want their kids eating at. Lots of learning disabilities.