Yoga studio coming to 660 - 664 Franklin (at St. Marks)

whynot_31 · December 2016

It will be run by Michael De Zayas. He also operates Hullabaloo books, Simple Syrup, Two Saints, Linden Salon, Nagle's Bagels, and Little Zelda.

pkwyporkchop · December 2016

I thought that this guy's whole shtick was to create economic development based on the needs and interests of the Crown Heights community. There is already a seemingly popular and successful yoga studio (Brooklyn Yoga Collective) on Franklin at Lincoln, as well as Shambhala on St. Marks and Grand. Seems like this guy is increasingly interested in creating his own western Crown Heights empire rather than putting community interests first.

booklaw · December 2016

That's a pretty aggressive post for a brand-new member. Please read the board rules before posting again. Thank you.

whynot_31 · December 2016

Competition will determine whether it survives. I'm not intimately familiar with his business model, but am under the impression he launches the businesses then basically leases them to people who would like to run them.

I don't know if they need to have some capital to buy in, but they seem to act more like owners than employees.

Brooklyneya · December 2016

Sorry, booklaw, but I'm going to have to agree with Pkwyporkshop. Every since his sign about the bagel shop that was self-serving and in really poor taste, he's just left me with a really bad impression of his motives and priorities. If he really cares about the community, continuing to open his own newcomer-centric businesses and competing with other local businesses is not the way to go. It would be nice to hear about him being involved in local politics, supporting other businesses that are being shut down and priced out, holding (free) community events, etc. I believe he even had an event CHARGING people to hear about him talking about opening a business in Crown Heights. Really? He couldn't even offer a free talk to the community to share his experience with?

He tried a gimmick to donate 10% of his profits of his PLG bagel shop to a local organization, but as I expected, the prices of everything are 10% more expensive than they need to be and so many people complain about the price and quality.

If you look at Yelp, there's a reviewer named Mig D. (Hmm...Miguel De Zayas?) who "coincidentally" wrote a 5 star review for every single one of his businesses.

It's fine for a business to do all of that, just don't go around and pretend to be "community-minded" and acting holier-than-thou.

goldemi1 · December 2016

Hopping on board with porkshop and brooklyneya. Not sure what the issue with the post was booklaw. It wasnt inflammatory and so what if its a new poster?

He has a history of doing pretty crappy things overtly and others I heard about from partners. Basically ran out his partners at Deck hair salon. Had to be told to stay away from his bar partners at Two Saints. On and on.

Maybe he'll open and post a sign asking people to avoid the mega chain corporate yoga studios down the street.

whynot_31 · December 2016

It is a weird dynamic. He seems to be the first to open a given desired service in an "up and coming area", yet has a price point that is pretty high.

This may be because he lacks the economies of scale to price it lower.

Regardless of the reason for the high prices, it causes his businesses to not be as popular as they otherwise would be and he (reportedly) loses money.

A year or so later, entities with more experience and established brands arrive and price their services below his. He then believes his customers should be loyal to him because he served them first, when they had no other choices and lost money in the process.

Perhaps needless to say, such loyalty is rare in a rapidly turning over (transient) area.

His ventures seem to do well enough to stay open, but I suspect that a less wealthy operator would have trouble surviving off the ROI.

Here is the flyer posters are referencing

yesbrooklyn · December 2016

He also pays his "employees" at the bookstore $0/hour. How he is able to find people to work for free is beyond me. Oh yeah, they're not interested in buying your used books or even offering an exchange rate a la other bookstores in the area...

xlizellx · December 2016

pkwyporkchop said:

I thought that this guy's whole shtick was to create economic development based on the needs and interests of the Crown Heights community. There is already a seemingly popular and successful yoga studio (Brooklyn Yoga Collective) on Franklin at Lincoln, as well as Shambhala on St. Marks and Grand. Seems like this guy is increasingly interested in creating his own western Crown Heights empire rather than putting community interests first.

Agreed. That sign @whynot_31 posted sums it up well, but this monopoly of fake-Brooklyn is so gross.

whynot_31 · December 2016

yesbrooklyn said:

He also pays his "employees" at the bookstore $0/hour. How he is able to find people to work for free is beyond me. Oh yeah, they're not interested in buying your used books or even offering an exchange rate a la other bookstores in the area...

I suspect people are willing to work at the bookstore for no pay because they view it as a nonprofit. Very few people seem to buy the books, and it is open sporadic hours.

Which all causes me to wonder:

Does he believe the local commercial rent market can be beat?

For example, if one signs a ten year lease in an up and coming area, can one offer a service that they know will only be in demand for a few years, and then change it every three years to match the needs of the next wave?

As purported above, you won't make much money on your businesses, but the entire time you might to able to say "yeah, I ran/run the first one of those businesses in western Crown Heights".

What if saying that (together with his "bringing culture to western Crown Heights") is his main objective, as opposed to a traditional profit motive?

goldemi1 · December 2016

Bringing culture is not the motive, otherwise he wouldn't lash out at other newcomers. Profit definitely is. He moved out of the neighborhood a while ago btw.

whynot_31 · December 2016

Prophets lash out at other prophets.

...and their motivation is not profit.

whynot_31 · January 2017

Grand Opening is reportedly this weekend.

Brooklyneya · January 2017

https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20170106/crown-heights/yoga-studio-franklin-avenue-free-classes

"Jewel City is Franklin Avenue’s second yoga studio in the neighborhood, just down the street from Brooklyn Yoga Collective, where classes are priced on a sliding scale or by donation. Though Jewel City will have some "community classes" with a $10 suggested donation, Newman described the new spot as the “more boutique yoga studio” in the neighborhood.

“BYC is donation based and that’s awesome. There’s a place for that. We’re a different beast,” she said, adding that “more yoga is never a bad thing.”

So more bagels shouldn't be a bad thing either, right?

whynot_31 · January 2017

I can't say I know enough about Yoga to be able to determine if one is more upscale than another.

Maybe the patrons of the other yoga places will be glad that there is now a place for the higher maintenance, higher disposable income crowd?

...I've found the reverse is usually true: Those really into something don't want to be around those who are casually into in it and/or do not have the means.

yesbrooklyn · January 2017

Google just led me to a studio in Glendale, CA. They don't have a website yet but are open? Weird, no?

whynot_31 · January 2017

I don't know the yoga scene well enough to know how far people travel to go to yoga.

My sense is that this will be a success (or failure) based on word of mouth and that people do not travel far to their studio of choice.

...so, no big need for a website or Facebook page.

michaela24 · April 2017

I think every business profit or non profit alike should have a website, a FB account, maybe even Instagram or Pinterest to off load photos. We are now in an era where people cannot find their way home if the Internet breaks down.

A new business should also make use of web directory entries and that is where business connects with people first, online. https://www.acompio.us is one of the better ones I know of. A good reason to register and place information in directories is that they often pop up early in search engines.

Yoga studio coming to 660 - 664 Franklin (at St. Marks)

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