Openings and closings: Armory to open as fitness center, Fortunoff begins liquidation

Clockwise from top left: Docks, Starbucks, West Elm and Armory

Popeye’s on 40th Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues was shut down this week due to an issue with the store’s taxes and rent levy. Fortunoff began its liquidation process yesterday. Dock’s Oyster Bar on Broadway between 89th and 90th streets has closed. Le Souk, a club at 47 Avenue B at East Fourth Street, closed February 12. The Tribal Spears cafe in Harlem will close after its African art and equipment are sold. The Starbucks planned for the corner of Fourth Avenue and Third Street in Gowanus has been canceled. Sears Holdings, Gap and Limited Brands and Kohl’s are closing locations, laying off workers and changing company expansion plans.

But even as the recession closes some stores, others are going strong. The developers of a Whole Foods supermarket along the Gowanus Canal filed environmental paperwork with the state for a 77,000-square-foot store and a three-level garage. The restored armory in Park Slope, which encompasses almost the entire block bound by 14th and 15th streets and Seventh and Eighth avenues, will open as a fitness center and sports facility in May. Cohen’s Fashion Optical has opened at 298 Seventh Avenue, between Eighth and Ninth streets, in Park Slope. A pharmacy has opened at 668 Fulton Street in Fort Greene. In Manhattan, West Elm is coming to Broadway between 61st and 62nd streets in 15 Central Park West. Housing Works opened its eighth location this week, in Tribeca. Crave Ceviche Bar is seeking new locations. Megu has been in discussions with landlords and leaseholders to take over the Merkato 55/Bijoux space in the Meatpacking District. Women’s boutique Coletta, at 147 Sullivan Street between Houston and Prince streets, has opened. White Slab Palace has opened at 77 Delancey on the Lower East Side. A Japanese Restaurant, Inakaya, opened to the public this week in the New York Times building. Ritz Asia at 189 Bleecker Street, Nova Brazil at 772 Ninth Avenue and Fork in the Road at 662 Fulton Street in Fort Greene are now open.