Latest news with #Gramercy
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The Federal Reserve's demanding next months
The writer is president of Queens' College, Cambridge, and an adviser to Allianz and GramercyIt was not supposed to be this way. By now, Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Beloved NYC Cheese Shop Is Closing Its Final Location
We've seen dozens of restaurants close their doors over the last few years, and the closures have happened for a variety of reasons. The pandemic, rising costs, a shifting desire in customer palates and remodeling have all led to a number of different closures in major American cities. One beloved cheese shop, facing the ever-changing restaurant business, is closing its doors at its last location in New York City. The Bedford Cheese Shop will shut down its location at 67 Irving Place in Gramercy, citing "an extensive, multi-year renovation" at the location. "This challenge, coupled with other forces outside our control — rising costs of doing business in New York City, increasing prices of products and supplies, and broader economic uncertainty — has made a path forward unfeasible at this time.' The first Bedford Cheese Shop - a female-owned and operated business - was established on Williamsburg's Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn. The pandemic forced it to close in 2020, ending a 17-year stint for the flagship location. The shop was so popular that it expanded the Brooklyn location in 2016 to include a wine bar and an expanded menu that proved popular with locals. "We know that change is a constant, and with every challenge comes the possibility of new beginnings," the shop said on Instagram, announcing the closure of the Manhattan location this week. "For now, closing the Shop is a necessary step that will give us the space and time to reassess and reimagine what the next chapter of Bedford Cheese Shop might look like." Fans and others in the industry sent well wishes and condolences in the comment section. "So sorry to hear this! This is a hell of a time to be a small business! Sending y'all lots of love & light!," one fan said. Sad news! We stopped by last year while in NYC. Loved meeting everyone and seeing this wonderful gem in the cheese world," another fan noted. The restaurant closed its message with a salute to the artisanal cheese makers who helped stock the shop's shelves, and it urged fans to visit in the weeks ahead of its impending closure. We'll see what the future holds for the Bedford Cheese Shop and for small restaurants and eateries all around an ever-changing New York City. Beloved NYC Cheese Shop Is Closing Its Final Location first appeared on Men's Journal on May 29, 2025
Forbes
20-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Levain Bakery Celebrates Its 30th Anniversary With Ice Cream Scoops All Summer Long
Levain à la Mode Mark Weinberg Referring to a cookie from Levain simply as a 'cookie,' just doesn't sit right. It's so much more than that. A cookie from the New York City institution is a token of love. You don't forget where you were, or who you were with, the first time you tried one. Now Levain is offering the option to elevate that experience. This summer, you'll be able to add a cold scoop of cold vanilla ice cream alongside the warm, gooey, slightly-caramelized six-ounce cookie hunks for a program it's calling Levain à la Mode. It's part of an overall celebration of Levain's 30 year anniversary, honoring the shop's legacy as a beloved neighborhood bakery that has kept true to its roots, partnering with local ice cream shops for the seasonal program. '[Each partner] Levain à la Mode Mark Weinberg Summertime Nostalgia Depending on the city you're in, each Levain à la Mode experience will taste slightly different. Levain chose its local partners with careful intention; they would have to live up to the high expectations people expect from Levain. Bakeries across its flagship city of New York will feature ice cream from Caffè Panna. With locations in Gramercy and Greenpoint, Caffè Panna has had a partnership with Levain for a few years now, creating ice cream flavors infused with Levain cookies along with mixing the cookies into a variety of flavors, hence, the proof of concept that the marriage of these particular cookies and ice cream was already there. 'They do something better than we can ever do, which is cookies, and combining the two things we both do really great makes a pretty phenomenal dessert,' says Hallie Meyer, founder of Caffè Panna. Levain à la Mode will offer vanilla ice cream with a selection of any cookie, including the Rocky Road cookie which is coming back to the menu. 'When you're working with a flavor as simple as vanilla, making sure that each of the components is really, really quality actually matters,' Meyer says. 'Since it's coming straight from the bakery, you know it's going to be a little bit warm and the ice cream is going to melt and it's just going to be a perfect symphony of contrasts.' Affogatos are also on the Levain menu this summer. 'You have the hot, hot bitter espresso shot on the cold, fatty creamy ice cream,' says Meyer. Levain à la Mode Mark Weinberg The cookies paired with Dolcezza's gelato at its Washington, DC locations is a partnership as good as a warm Levain cookie with vanilla ice cream. As I interviewed Dolcezza cofounder Robb Duncan, he was receiving a delivery of fresh tarragon–for his seasonal Strawberry Tarragon sorbet–from a local farm nearby in Virginia–a scene more out of a fine restaurant than an ice cream shop. 'It just makes sense to reach out and tap into that local ecosystem of makers, of creatives, chefs, farmers,' Duncan says. Inspired by Argentinian gastronomy, Dolcezza, which began more than 20 years ago at local farmers markets, goes the extra mile to make one-of-a-kind gelato. Its grass-fed, low-heat pasteurization dairy to make its gelato is sourced from Amish farmers who produce the milk for Dolcezza. Levain cofounders Pam Weekes and Connie McDonald connected with Duncan before opening their first DC location. 'They move to the same beat of the drum as we do as far as quality,' he says. 'It's really that old school way of doing things…for the community, the baker, the bakery.' Dolcezza's vanilla gelato is the vanilla extract from Singing Dog Vanilla. The vanilla beans used to make this extract are Fair Trade vanilla beans from family farms throughout Indonesia, Uganda and Papua New Guinea. And at Caffè Panna, the vanilla ice cream is crafted with sea salt from Trapani, Italy along with Heilala pure vanilla paste. Levain has collaborated with these ice cream shops in the past for limited edition ice cream sandwiches. But Levain à la Mode gives the customer a more custom experience. 'Do you break off the piece of the cookie and dip it into the ice cream? Do you eat your ice cream first? Last? Whichever way you wanna do it,' Maguire says. While there may be some weekends where unique flavors are available, Levain had no doubt that vanilla would be the best crowd pleaser. 'Our belief is that's the perfect pairing of the ice cream flavor and it also lets the cookies speak for themselves.' Levain's Wainscott location in The Hamptons will be the first location to kick off Levain à la Mode on May 23. That location will source its ice cream from John's Drive-In. Every other location will begin the program on May 30. In Los Angeles, the ice cream will be from Wanderlust Creamery. At Chicago locations, the ice cream will be from Pretty Cool Ice Cream. In Boston, from J.P. Licks, and in Philadelphia, Milk Jawn. Levain à la Mode Mark Weinberg A Cookie Empire Levain's cookies have made the bakery a tourist attraction–outsiders refusing to leave town until they can get their hands on one. Yet it also has remained a gem that locals cherish. For Levain, word-of-mouth marketing is still its most powerful tool. It provides a deeper sense of authenticity rather than going 'viral' in today's age of social media. "We don't chase fads,' Maguire says. 'We continuously go back to looking at it from our roots perspective and what an authentic 30-year bakery would do.' Those roots stem from what Weekes and McDonald set out to achieve in 1995, which was not creating an incredible cookie. In fact, cookies were not even part of their original menu. They simply wanted to be a neighborhood bakery committed to highlighting all of their fresh baked products, which today range from artisanal loaves of sourdough and baguettes to muffins and brioches. 'This isn't a flash in the pan,' Maguire says. '[Our history is about] the quality of products, how we take care of people, and how we show up in the community.' Cookies became part of the equation when Weekes and McDonald were training for triathlons and looking for a high-quality snack that athletes could use as a satiating carb load. For most of its 30 year history, Levain's growth beyond its heritage location on 74th and Amsterdam on New York's Upper West Side was limited to another shop in Harlem and its first location outside of New York City in East Hampton. It wasn't until private equity group Stripes purchased a majority stake in Levain in 2018 until the growth, while still strictly regimented, became exponential. 'We understand that scarcity for us is actually part of what makes us unique,' says Maguire. 'We're going to grow at a pace that we can absorb and at a pace that speaks to our involvement in the community.' Levain Bakery CEO John Maguire Mark Weinberg Maguire was brought on as Levain CEO two years ago, and although he comes from leading big restaurant chains like Panera Bread, Friendly's and Johnny Rockets, he feels like it's a homecoming. 'My superpower as a CEO is I've run a bakery,' he says. 'I started with Panera as a frontline baker. We had about 16 locations. When I left 20 years later [as COO] In 2023, Levain tested out its concept out West, opening up in the Larchmont neighborhood of Los Angeles. 'To really show you can make it and grow, you've got to be able to do it on the West Coast,' Maguire says. Levain is now investing more in the Southern California market with a new opening in early 2025 in Venice, which debuted with Levain's rare Black & White cookies. Now with 17 locations nationwide, Levain is set to open a new store later this year in Beverly Hills and in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. Five additional stores are set to open in 2026. 'It's not tremendous growth, but it's purposeful,' Maguire says. 'It's designed to deliver the same experience in the other markets that people get [in New York].' Maguire's goal now is to maintain the neighborhood feel at Levain, like hiring employees who love the art of baking and making sure every product tastes just as good as its cookies. 'How do you make sure that we're creating a culture that's so rich that Levain will be successful in anyone's hands?' he says. 'Sales and profits are byproducts of doing other things well.'
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Analysis-Latam assets may receive a trade-war boost, investors say
By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) - Latin American stocks and bonds could be unlikely winners as the Trump administration's trade war so far mostly spared the region, while it triggered a market rout on Wall Street that has sent investors on a hunt for non-U.S. assets. The Nasdaq stock index opened Friday more than 20% below its December record high and Wall Street's "fear gauge" hit an eight-month high. The dollar touched a six-month low this week. Meanwhile, the outperformance of some corners of emerging-market equities and currencies, and the resilience of bonds, have not gone unnoticed. Latin America was mostly spared the imposition of additional tariffs in U.S. president Donald Trump's announcement this week that upended decades of trade policy, partly because most of the region has a trade deficit with the world's largest economy. Despite a massive Friday selloff, the MSCI Latam stocks gauge is beating the S&P 500 by more than 20 percentage points so far in 2025. The recent returns and a rethinking of global trade could bring new types of investors to Latin American assets, according to Kathryn Exum, co-head of sovereign research at Gramercy. "Stepping back, we're obviously in a new paradigm for trade and a reorganization of global trade. Assuming that you end up with more regionalized blocks of trade, Latin America would be a winner in that regard," she said. "Perhaps it starts to increase flows," she added. "Whether it's FDI (foreign direct investment) flows or portfolio flows will depend on the country at hand, and whether we're talking about short-term or over the medium term." Evidence of a shift may be found in Brazil and Mexico, the region's largest economies by far. Stock markets in both countries have risen this year, and their currencies are up against the dollar. Economists said Brazil is better placed than most countries to deal with tariffs, while Mexico's preferred treatment from a U.S. trade standpoint is expected to continue. A shift toward Latam follows months of volatility on Wall Street as the prevailing market view of U.S. assets as the only destination was under review, and investors realigned growth expectations in the U.S. and globally. "Emerging Market assets in general are outperforming during this period of volatility, and we attribute this to a mixture of improving fundamentals, favorable technical factors, and attractive relative valuations," said Shamaila Khan, head of fixed income for emerging markets and Asia Pacific at UBS. "There's also a growing sentiment among investors questioning U.S. exceptionalism, which is likely to drive diversification flows towards EM assets." Yet Friday's market selloff, triggered by counter tariffs from China, is a reminder that no one would be spared if the global economy goes into recession. The size of the Latin American stock market is a limitation, as the top 10 companies in the regional MSCI index combine for a market capitalization of near $230 billion, while the market cap of Apple alone sits near $3 trillion. In addition, Latin America's idiosyncrasies could also prove a barrier to more investment, said Samy Muaddi, head of EM fixed income at T. Rowe Price. "While Latin America was less directly impacted (by U.S. tariffs), any country running twin deficits in a period of tightening financial conditions could suffer from collateral damage." Sign in to access your portfolio
Reuters
04-04-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Latam assets may receive a trade-war boost, investors say
NEW YORK, April 4 (Reuters) - Latin American stocks and bonds could be unlikely winners as the Trump administration's trade war so far mostly spared the region, while it triggered a market rout on Wall Street that has sent investors on a hunt for non-U.S. assets. The Nasdaq stock index (.IXIC), opens new tab opened Friday more than 20% below its December record high and Wall Street's "fear gauge" hit an eight-month high. The dollar (.DXY), opens new tab touched a six-month low this week. Meanwhile, the outperformance of some corners of emerging-market equities and currencies, and the resilience of bonds, have not gone unnoticed. Latin America was mostly spared the imposition of additional tariffs in U.S. president Donald Trump's announcement this week that upended decades of trade policy, partly because most of the region has a trade deficit with the world's largest economy. Despite a massive Friday selloff, the MSCI Latam stocks gauge (.MILA00000PUS), opens new tab is beating the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab by more than 20 percentage points so far in 2025. The recent returns and a rethinking of global trade could bring new types of investors to Latin American assets, according to Kathryn Exum, co-head of sovereign research at Gramercy. "Stepping back, we're obviously in a new paradigm for trade and a reorganization of global trade. Assuming that you end up with more regionalized blocks of trade, Latin America would be a winner in that regard," she said. "Perhaps it starts to increase flows," she added. "Whether it's FDI (foreign direct investment) flows or portfolio flows will depend on the country at hand, and whether we're talking about short-term or over the medium term." Evidence of a shift may be found in Brazil and Mexico, the region's largest economies by far. Stock markets in both countries have risen this year, and their currencies are up against the dollar. Economists said Brazil is better placed than most countries to deal with tariffs, while Mexico's preferred treatment from a U.S. trade standpoint is expected to continue. A shift toward Latam follows months of volatility on Wall Street as the prevailing market view of U.S. assets as the only destination was under review, and investors realigned growth expectations in the U.S. and globally. "Emerging Market assets in general are outperforming during this period of volatility, and we attribute this to a mixture of improving fundamentals, favorable technical factors, and attractive relative valuations," said Shamaila Khan, head of fixed income for emerging markets and Asia Pacific at UBS. "There's also a growing sentiment among investors questioning U.S. exceptionalism, which is likely to drive diversification flows towards EM assets." Yet Friday's market selloff, triggered by counter tariffs from China, is a reminder that no one would be spared if the global economy goes into recession. The size of the Latin American stock market is a limitation, as the top 10 companies in the regional MSCI index combine for a market capitalization of near $230 billion, while the market cap of Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab alone sits near $3 trillion. In addition, Latin America's idiosyncrasies could also prove a barrier to more investment, said Samy Muaddi, head of EM fixed income at T. Rowe Price. "While Latin America was less directly impacted (by U.S. tariffs), any country running twin deficits in a period of tightening financial conditions could suffer from collateral damage."
