“Though the word “fika” famously refers to the Swedish cultural practice of slowing down to relax with those around you over coffee or tea and a small bite, the New York City coffee chain Fika has been operating at a breakneck pace in recent years.
By 2016, ten years after opening Fika with a single Manhattan location, founder Lars Akerlund had led the boutique coffee chain to 17 locations while signaling the company’s intentions to expand its physical footprint into more U.S. cities and countries overseas. Two years after that, by Sept. 2018, Fika had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Today, the company is down to six New York locations, and it has recently been acquired through an auction process under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, section 363, according to an announcement made by Cozen O’Connor, a law firm involved with the acquisition process.
“The expansion required significant start-up costs for each of the locations before they could become profitable,” the firm said, noting the rapid addition of 12 Fika cafes that began in 2013. “FIKA was subsequently unable to secure additional investors to cover the expansion costs and its operations alone could not absorb the increased start-up expenses. The legacy costs from the aggressive expansion forced FIKA, therefore, to close a number of locations and return to a streamlined, conservative business model centered on fewer stores.”
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Food halls have been popping up everywhere lately, and – love them or hate them – the trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down. The latest addition is the planned Canal Street Market, set to open in November in 12,000 square feet of space on Canal between Broadway and Lafayette. There are 11 confirmed vendors, including bubble tea favorite Boba Guys, Davey’s Ice Cream, and a new concept Yori Nori from the team behind Chelsea Market’s ramen shop Mokbar. There will also be a retail portion to the market including home goods, ceramics and flowers.
Colicchio & Sons, the eponymous Chelsea restaurant from Tom Colicchio, recently announced they would close their doors after a final dinner service on September 4th The restaurant has been open for 6 years, during which it earned 3 stars from the New York Times for it’s sophisticated techniques and devotion to craft.
Shigefumi Kabashima and Tetsuo Hasegawa, both formerly of the popular speakeasy-esque bar Angel’s Share, have just unveiled the full cocktail menu at their new spot in Hamilton Heights. The bar is called ROKC (short for Ramen, Oysters, Kitchen and Cocktails), and the menu is a playful American twist on the high quality Japanese drinks at Angel’s Share. Examples include a Thai tea spiked with absinthe and cachaça, a matcha latte with Japanese whiskey, and a fruity cocktail called “Flower” with shochu, lavender, elderflower, and cranberry, served in a lightbulb and presented over ice in a trapezoidal
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