Two Great Neck Estates businesses on Middle Neck Road are in their final days, business representatives said last week, with neither store disclosing plans to relocate elsewhere.
Yanni’s Furs, near the entrance to Great Neck Estates, and M.K. Nemati, a women’s retail store with high-end clothing imported from Italy and France, have signs posted saying that their stores are closing.
A representative for Yanni’s Furs said last Friday the owners are “pretty much closing up shop,” have notified their customers through phone calls and letters and suggested another furrier for them to use.
“It’s unfortunate for Great Neck,” he said. “It’s not just us, it’s a lot of places.”
Khosrow Nemati, the owner of M.K. Nemati, said last Thursday that after running the business for 16 years, it is too expensive for him now. Nemati said the rent alone is $5,000 per month, and there is very little foot traffic to show for it – a problem he feels many businesses face.
“I feel like I’m a slaver,” said Nemati, a 30-year resident of Great Neck. “It’s not good.”
Nemati said he sees larger issues in Great Neck, with restaurants and nail salons among the dominant openings and businesses struggling to stay open long. There also seems to be a benefit for landlords who can keep spaces vacant and deduct losses from their taxes, he said.
The result is a great deal of lost potential and declining real estate values, Nemati said.
“It’s a big, big tragedy,” Nemati said.
He said he is likely to retire once the store closes.
Atta Aminzadeh, the owner of the Casa Bella furniture and upholstery store next door, said he is facing similar issues. People buy everything online and nobody shops locally, he said, “especially in Great Neck.”
“The business is almost dead,” Aminzadeh said.
