May 28, 2004

End of an era?

Zito's Bakery (scroll down to bottom for picture) is closing. I think that a lot of people don't realize that NYC is made up primarily of small businesses, many of them family owned. If you live your life in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where I visited once, you believe that chains are normal and natural and your needs will be met by the large corporations. Not in NYC. Here the real estate, with some exceptions, is too expensive to support the big chain business model. You can see those guys in their planning meetings wondering where they're going to put the parking lot, can't you? Also, it's tough to make deliveries here. So, when a landmark hangs it up, it's sad. I know change is part of life, especially in NYC where it seems to happen so quickly, it's just that these guys had a special place in the Village and when they lock the door that last time there will be a hole in the fabric of that society. Maybe not a big hole, but a hole nonetheless. And the bread was really something!

Posted by Random Penseur at May 28, 2004 07:46 AM
Comments

No more bread. I'm told, that's what was posted to Zito's store front this past June. But you know, it's much more than no more bread. How can you replace a family's history that served one of the most interesting neighborhoods on the planet? How can you replace the smells of an Italian-American culture that for decades filled the neighborhood with one of the best aromas known to man? Zito's gave history, color and the staff of life to the West Village. For those of us lucky to have lived nearby, we were most fortunate for all the warm loaves that nurtured us. For those of us unlucky enough to have lived nearby, we also will know what it's like without Zito's. the loss is really much more than 'no more bread.'

Posted by: Linda at August 2, 2004 01:00 PM

Please tell me this is untrue!!
A. Zito has been a fixture in my life all the way back to my grandmother buying bread there in the 1920's. I wisih I had realized, and don't get to the city as often. I would have made a special trip had I been aware. I feel as though a family member has died.

Posted by: Maria Rondinone at March 25, 2005 10:30 AM
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