For the gourmet baked doughnut shop Foughnuts, Great Neck Plaza just wasn’t the sweet spot.
Foughnuts closed its doors in Great Neck Plaza on Christmas Eve, but plans to reopen them in Long Island City, the business’s owner said on Monday.
Foughnuts, located at 8 Bond Street, touted itself as a gourmet baked doughnut shop offering an array of flavors like cinnamon sugar, strawberry basil, apple caramel and red velvet. Its name came from a combination of the words “faux” – meaning fake – and “doughnut,” as doughnuts are typically fried rather than baked.
Rebecca Romero, who opened the business in March 2017, said she decided to relocate because of the “poor traffic” in the area, too small a population and there being “no sense of community support from the residents there.”
“It’s just that no business will ever survive there unless it’s a staple,” Romero said, adding that people had “warned” her about the risks of doing business there.
Romero also said she wanted to “thank everyone who’s supported us” and that she did not have a chance to put a sign on the door saying the store was closed.
“It was a great start,” Romero said.
Foughnuts’ new location will be in Long Island City, Romero said, and could potentially open around the end of the month.
The closure of Foughnuts in Great Neck Plaza follows several notable closures in 2018. Among them were the eateries Ippon, Element Seafood, Royal Tea House, Ren Wen Noodle Factory, Great Neck Gourmet, Ruby Divine Indian Dining, as well as Jildor Shoes and Lonny’s Wardrobe of Great Neck – which both did business in the Plaza for decades and MMKidz.
Yahao Asian Cuisine succeeded Ippon, Zen Garden opened its doors in the former home of Royal Tea House earlier this month, and HSBC plans to fill the space of Lonny’s sometime this year. 39 Plus, an Italian eatery, also plans to open sometime this year.
Among last year’s business openings were Mr. Poké, Daniel Gale Sotheby’s, Noir Bakery and T-Swirl Crêpe.
