A Reinvigorated Cake Shop Tries for a Return to Its Roots
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Cake Shop is boarded up. What appears catastrophic at first – yes, it looks closed – is little more than house cleaning. It’s not going anywhere. At least not yet.
After several years of well-documented struggles and the crowdfunding campaigns to assist, the eleven-year-old Cake Shop on Ludlow Street is turning the page on its next chapter. Time to pivot, and return to its roots. During the last such cash drive, an investor named Michael Thieme reportedly floated a majority of the support funds to keep the venue alive. He and his wife joined the business in June 2015, right around the time HUBB NYC purchased the frat residence for $29.1 million (aka Gotham Court). They, together with owner-brothers Nick and Andy Bodor, signed a ten-year lease, and remain committed to keeping music the sole focus.
Right now, HUBB is renovating the facade and remodeling the interior of the venue. (The original exterior was fairly antiseptic, so it’ll be interesting to see what they do.) Nighttime programing will continue unhindered, but Cake Shop will be closed dayside until completion. Grand reopening is tentatively scheduled for next Thursday, May 5. At that point, the main floor will again sell records like the early days, and the menu will get tweaked with “artisanal sandwiches.”
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The following letter is pasted to the plywood, which also carries the company branding.
Cake Shop is rebooting and looking forward to being here at least another 10 years! We will open this evening and have shows booked all week. We need the support, so come by at night.
We will be going back to our roots a bit and will have a grand reopening when it all comes together, so you can check it out when complete.
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