7. Because We're Open for Business

Every time a small, well-liked neighborhood business closes, it feels like a loss—but it also means an opportunity. We asked four entrepreneurs who have dared to open their doors this year to tell us how they pulled it off.

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Published Dec 13, 2009

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(Photo: Alyson Aliano for New York Magazine)

Knickerbocker Meat Market, opened May 2009
166 Ninth Avenue
Previously Chelsea Court Meat Market, opened 1960; closed April 2009
Jonathan Afromsky, co-owner:
It was a butcher shop for a long time before this—we use the same showcase that’s been here 50 years. The son had been working there since he was 15 or so, and he retired. It’s hard work and not always lucrative. We changed the line to more high-end stuff: dry-aged steaks, all-natural free-range chickens. People can spend $30 on a high-quality meal instead of $150 at a restaurant.

Right now it’s my father and me and a little extra help, and we’re open seven days a week. People are so happy that there’s still a butcher in the neighborhood, they come in and thank me. So far business has exceeded expectations. We were hoping to just break even till the holidays, but over the summer, we built on existing customers and got through well.