DNAInfo: Harlem Powerbrokers Brainstorm Ways to Stem Small Business Closures

By Jeff Mays | August 15, 2012 7:25am

HARLEM — A group of local leaders met at Sylvia’s Restaurant this week to come up with ways to stem a recent spate of small business closures.

Rep. Charles Rangel, City Councilwoman Inez Dickens, Lloyd Williams of the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce and Regina Smith of the Harlem Business Alliance gathered at the famous restaurant in response to a rash of mostly black-owned businesses being shuttered in the last few months.

Read More at: https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20120815/harlem/harlem-powerbrokers-brainstorm-stem-small-business-closures/

NY Times: A Common Refrain as Harlem Loses Its Bowling Alley

By Chris Palmer

As groups of cheering children sought to knock down pins at Harlem Lanes on Friday morning, Joey Hill and Marsha Kindell had a different objective: get rid of mounds of documents.

Inside an office near the back of the bowling alley, at 126th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, Mr. Hill, 45, grabbed folders from a giant plastic tub and tossed them into a garbage bag at his feet.

Ms. Kindell, 31, picked sheets of paper from a pile on a desk, then guided them into a shredding machine. Paper shrapnel was scattered across the floor.

Read More at: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/06/nyregion/harlem-lanes-closes-joining-list-of-local-businesses-hit-by-bad-economy.html

ABC7NY: Harlem Lanes to close on Saturday

“What I said then and I’ll say now, that I thought black business owners were a dying species,” said Sharon Joseph, Harlem Lanes Owner.

The most recent casualties in Harlem are the Hue-man Bookstore, and on Saturday the games are over at Harlem Lanes.

“The rising rents make it very difficult for us to continue to do business in Harlem because we’re not trying to pass those prices down to our customers,” Joseph said.

Those customers were thrilled in 2006 when the first bowling alley opened in Harlem in three decades, and it was the only one in the country with African American women at the helm.

Joseph vowed to offer affordable fun, and did, but paid the price, like others in the area.

By the end of the month, Mo-bay Restaurant is expected to close its doors as a flood of big box stores and chain restaurants drops anchor.

Read More at: https://abc7ny.com/archive/8759566/

NBC NY: Harlem Shop Revived by Social Media

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A Harlem grandmother whose hometown business was heading for closure is once again booming, thanks to a pair of social media and tech-savvy volunteers who helped get the registers ringing again. Roseanne Colletti reports.

View at: https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/low-tech_store__high-tech_rescue_new_york/1945328/

NY Daily News: Angels help owner Dawn Harris-Martine keep Grandma’s Place in business

By MICHAEL J. FEENEY

A Harlem toy store is receiving a much-needed “boost” from some unexpected angels, and its owner says their assistance may help her to keep the business open for a whole new generation of children.

Grandma’s Place, which opened in 2006, has seen some tough times of late. Owner Dawn Harris-Martine says she knew “something” had to happen in order for the boutique toy store to survive for another year.

She described her busiest time of the year — the holidays — as “so-so,” and said she wasn’t sure she’d make it to see another December.

“I knew something major had to happen for us to be here next Christmas,” said Harris-Martine, 73, a retired city schoolteacher.

Read More at: https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/angels-owner-dawn-harris-martine-grandma-place-business-article-1.1082178

DNAInfo: Supergroup Forms to Promote Harlem Businesses

By Jeff Mays | May 14, 2012 9:04am

HARLEM — It started out as a way to raise money for the holiday lights on 125th Street in the middle of a recession. Now a collection of Harlem community groups is banding together to promote businesses in the neighborhood.

The Promotional Alliance of Harlem consists of the 125th Street Business Improvement District, Harlem Business Alliance, Harlem Park to Park and the Aloft Harlem Hotel. With a mantra of “Fun, Fashion and Food,” the group, which has about 1,000 businesses under its umbrella, is out to highlight all Harlem has to offer.

“After the economy went down we came together to make the lights happen. That developed relationships and we started looking at how it could be more than 125th Street,” said Barbara Askins, president of the 125th Street Business Improvement District.

Read More at: https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20120514/central-harlem/supergroup-forms-promote-harlem-businesses/

Curbed NY: Rezoning West Harlem and Bed-Stuy; A New Alliance in Harlem

By Dave Hogarty

HARLEM—The 125th Street Business Improvement District, Harlem Business Alliance, Harlem Park to Park and the Aloft Harlem Hotel have cooperatively formed the Promotional Alliance of Harlem (PAH). The PAH will support and showcase Harlem’s growing array of nightlife, shopping, dining, cultural destinations and neighborhood events. [Curbedwire Inbox]

Read More at: https://ny.curbed.com/2012/5/7/10373364/rezoning-west-harlem-and-bed-stuy-a-new-alliance-in-harlem

NY Daily News: Harlem Business Alliance helps small business establish stable foundation

By JOSEPH TEPPE

Precious Williams used to tear out her hair over finding lingerie; and that’s when the light went on.

“I realized that if you’re a woman who’s bigger, there aren’t many options out there,” said Williams, who spent nearly a year talking to friends and family about how she could sell plus-sized intimate apparel.

It wasn’t until Williams won $5,000 in startup funds from the Harlem Business Alliance that her plus-sized dream became a reality. She chucked her day job as a mortgage lawyer and launched a website, curvygirlzlingerie.com — things took off pretty quickly from there.

“I needed a business plan because I could only fund it on my own for so long,” said Williams.

After she won HBA’s Business Plan Competition last year, Williams sold more than $10,000 worth of merchandise — double the cash prize — in her first month of business. Now, she is considering opening a storefront in Harlem.

“You never think of all that comes from winning a competition like this,” said Williams. “I feel like a rock star.”

Read More at https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/harlem-business-alliance-helps-small-business-establish-stable-foundation-article-1.1067605

NY Daily News: Harlem Business Alliance executive director Regina Smith says climbing rents are killing small businesses

By MICHAEL J. FEENEY

Harlem small businesses are desperately in need of assistance, said the executive director of the Harlem Business Alliance.

Regina Smith said she’s seen more than a dozen area small businesses close up over the last year.

“It’s the rent,” she said, noting that many Harlem businesses have seen their rent skyrocket — in some cases, doubling — forcing many long-time shops to close.

The latest example is Lenox Lounge. The owner, Al Reed, told the Daily News his rent is jumping from $10,000 to $20,000 a month and he can’t afford it. At the end of June, the Harlem fixture could close for good.

“I hate to see him lose it,” said Smith, who grew up in the St. Nicholas Houses and still lives in Harlem.

Read More at : https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/harlem-business-alliance-executive-director-regina-smith-climbing-rents-killing-small-businesses-article-1.1067453

NY Times: This Week in Small Business: Where Is the Recovery?

Around the Country: A Fracking Boomtown

The Harlem Business Alliance is helping small businesses establish a stable foundation. In Oregon and elsewhere furniture manufacturing is on the rise. Michigan’s economic activity index is the highest since 2005, and economic optimism increases across Minnesota.

Read More at: https://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/30/this-week-in-small-business-where-is-the-recovery/

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