Sea Kiss Boutique on Skillman Ave is shuttered (Photo: QueensPost)
May 12, 2011 Staff Report
The owner of Sea Kiss Boutique, located at 48-13 Skillman Ave., was evicted yesterday. A New York City marshal repossessed the property on behalf of the landlord.
Sea Kiss sold an array of items from custom jewelry to designer handbags.
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Stray is one of my fave Sunnyside stores. What great stuff in there! Yeah, it is a little pricey, but there’s a difference between “vintage” and “used and cheap”.
It is sad to see empty stores and it does hurt the area – without a doubt. I feel bad for the people who tried to make a go of it. Life really is tough.
Empty stores = eyesores.
Krissi I agree with you. I think between the stray store and the used stuff store across the street I think they beat up on each other. Except the stray store may have a cult following and the used stuff may have cheaper items.
Krissi thank you for your kind thoughts.
We need a bid for skillman ave and the rest of this area that will maket and advertise our stores and serviices none of these business advertise their business at least put an ad on this site which has beautiful ads .
the councilman and chairman of bd 2 Mr. Colley are working on a bid that takes time to do if done at all it could be years or months or weeks. we need help now
we need a ad for all the stores on skillman to share and ad or two and list all the stores together with unity and maybe shopers will shop.
Honestly, the store just wasn’t very good. At least in my opinion.
I agree with Sunnysider also though…
Raquel and Susan maybe the city council needs to investigate these owners and see why they can affort to let these stores stay vacant and maybe since they do not live here they need to be fined for not keeping up with the crimes committed to their property. We llive here and have to suffer with valdalised stores and emply stores the owners live elswwere and could care less.
Someone should call Brammers office and start an inquiry and to the owners and their responsibility to their property and fine them if that is the law
It is a shame. I feel bad for the store’s owners. Another empty store in “busy” Skillman! Ha! I see one empty store after another and they are empty for many, many months.
susan, I don’t know the specifics of the law, but I believe you are on to something. I have the feeling this city has it set up such as the tax breaks, etc make it more advantagous for owner to have it vacant then to rent at a reasonable rate. i hope i’m wrong, but based on what we all see in the neighborhood, it seems like this might be the case.
Before we start blaming the landlords again, could it be possible that the store just couldn’t make ends meet? I understand there have been a slew of business closings due to greedy landlords, but people have to actually shop at the business for them to afford the rent. In the case of Sea Kiss, their limited supply of generic, cheaply-produced merchandise probably didn’t attract many customers, especially with a such vibrant, unique shop (Stray) right next door. A landlord can’t help a business that isn’t getting any customers in the first place.
I find it hard to even comment on these stories anymore, it seems no one is immune and there’s no end in sight.
The only thing I can add is that while Gennaro and many of us here do believe, as he noted, that it’s preferable to have a tenant paying rent it can afford over having a shuttered store and a target for vandalism, I cannot shake the belief that at least some building owners do not care. If they don’t live here, what do they care about some graffiti? They can paint it over when and if they get to it…if not, the community will do it for them for free.
There has to be some sort of financial benefit (tax deductions?) to letting a property sit vacant.
That’s not to say I believe a building owner should go broke paying a mortgage without enough rent to cover his investment. I just find it hard to imagine that is the case with all these stores.
I wish I had the time to research the histories of the buildings where stores have been closing to see the mortgage history. Would be interesting to see how many of these properties are owned free and clear and how many are under water (vis-a-vis their mortgages, that is).
It is a terrible shame that this store has left us. rent is always a issue especially in the first few years of a business life.
How about the city council make a bill for all new business to get assistance in starting their business to make it throght the starting process and help them with their business issues so they stay in business .
Genero D. Massora I really enjoyed reading your comments so wel put.
It hurts to see another business close on Skillman Avenue. I hope these greedy landlords realize that an open store paying a fair rent is preferable to a shuttered store that can become a site for vandalism.
They should try and help out a business that might be in trouble and hopefully the business will become viable and be an asset to the area.
This is just another store that has gone by the wayside. Bliss Bistro was a great place to eat and is definitely missed.
The closed Mexican Food Store on Skillman and 49th Street has been shuttered for months now. Too bad the landlord hasn’t found a business that might want to occupy the corner store. I guess the rent might be prohibitive to someone wanting to start a new business.
Sometimes a landlord might be better off if they negotiate a lease at a lower rent with a cut of the gross receipts. This helps the businessman, the landlord and the community.