Although New York City classic H&H Bagels has struggled through bankruptcy and the loss of both an Upper West Side store at 79th and Broadway and their manufacturing plant, owner Helmer Toro told the Wall Street Journal he is confident his business will survive.
The space where the only remaining H&H does business, at 639 West 46th Street, was sold at auction for $11 million last week. Toro had owned the space in a partnership. A bankruptcy trustee has moved to evict H&H, and Toro then filed an order to show cause, effectively stalling the eviction. In a bankruptcy filing Toro has said he was “a victim of predatory lending and a disbarred attorney,” according to the Journal.
Still, Toro and others said that the name H&H is so well known that the underwater bagel salesman still might find an investor to help him ressurrect his business.
“I’ve been doing this for 40 years and I make the best bagels, according to my customers. And I love what I do,” Toro said. [WSJ]