Report: Petco Opening Its ‘Unleashed’ Store at Ben Shaoul’s 31-33 Second Avenue
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Ben Shaoul wrecked 31-33 2nd Avenue
The succession of gay bars at 31-33 Second Avenue came to an end in June 2012, when landlord Ben Shaoul got his meat hooks into the property. DOB permits filed at the time revealed that three new floors of residential would be added for a total of six stories, and that the entire building would be stripped bare and remodeled. Now this. Collars and leashes will reportedly be available on the ground level, but probably not in the way you might think given the neighborhood.
Sources tell us that pet store chain Petco is ready to move into the retail space once ready. And the DOB-mandated signage atop the sidewalk bridge confirms. Just squint your eyes a bit, and you’ll notice the rendering reveals that “Unleashed by Petco” is coming soon.
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Petco is coming to the ground level
Unleashed is basically a stripped down version of its parent. Their concept “provides the same knowledge and know-how offeredy by Petco in a unique, smaller package.” That’s likely a euphemism for Petco to appear as more of a mom-and-pop to further take over the industry. There are currently three locations of the store in Manhattan.
In the meantime, the unique character of the building (nay, all of it) is now eradicated. Scheduled completion date is Q1 2014.
Our requests for comment from Petco went unanswered.
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