Hunts Point food distribution market workers ratify new contract
A looming strike has been averted at the Hunts Point Produce Market, as workers voted today to ratify a new, three-year collective bargaining agreement.
Business
Business / Food
Business
Bikini bar will stay open under new management
Community Board 2 approved the liquor license of Hunts Point’s last remaining adult entertainment club – Mr. Wedge — with a yawn, with only one person coming out to voice her disapproval.
Business / Economy
![Blueprint clothing store (15 years at the location)
Ronald Elike, owner
1038 Southern
PHOTOGRAPHER: Mohammad Sharif Hassan
Ronald Elike is the owner of the Blueprint, a clothing store, on Southern Blvd. He launched the business in 2002 when few online businesses were selling cloths. His business grew for about a decade, but started trending down about five years ago.
“The chain stores have an effect on us, but online is even worse – that’s taken a big chunk of our business away – because a lot of customers are now shopping online,” 41-year-old business owner said.
Elike tried to embrace the online business in the hope to compensate the store decline. He created a website and started selling on Ebay. The website didn’t help. The Ebay sales, however, increased over time.
Elike said his business is “tremendously down,” this holiday season. In addition to online and chain store growth, he has another problem – unfriendly weather. With the weather warmer this December, fewer people buy winter clothes.
“This year in particular we had a lot of issues with weather. It’s been warm. Normally it supposed to be cold [in December]. So, we are selling winter cloths, but people don’t need it right now,” he said.](http://brie.hunter.cuny.edu/hpe/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Elike_Blueprint-copy-190x120.jpg)
Small businesses brace for rough holiday season
Though business owners often depend on the holiday season to boost flagging revenues, many in Longwood’s main shopping district along Southern Boulevard say they’re not optimistic as big box stores and online sales have eaten away at their ability to earn a living in recent years.
Business
Tech skills on offer for LGBTQ youth
A class offered at the BankNote building teaches technology and career readiness to LGBTQ youth who make less than $50,000 a year. It is the first of its kind dedicated exclusively to LGBTQ youth in the Bronx.
Business / Environment
Pilot project helps auto businesses go green
New technology available through a state pilot project is helping some Hunts Point auto repair shops save money, but its environmental benefits are what may have the most lasting impact for the community.
Business / Culture
Bronx woman looks to bring bookstore/winebar to South Bronx
Noelle Santos’ goal is to promote book culture in the Bronx and highlight the borough’s intellectual population.
Business / Jobs
Registration starts for entrepreneur boot camp
Over five years, the Co-op Academy has helped form approximately 20 new cooperatives, creating approximately 50 to 60 jobs.
Business / Culture
Shuttered fertilizer plant now huge events venue
Could the sleepy, industrially zoned Hunts Point waterfront be home to New York City’s next big event center?
Business / Economy
Tough times for Southern Boulevard businesses
Merchants along Southern Boulevard in Longwood face a number of challenges they say are keeping them from prospering, from the economy to being squeezed by the sanitation department.