Crains New York - March 4, 2013 - (Page 6)

Juicing company spouts growth gusher throughout city Expanding chain’s stakeholders include Ken Langone and Mark Teixeira ‘Fountain of youth’ “People feel that juice, smoothies and raw food are really the fountain of youth,” said Mr. Antebi. “They get the fact that this is the way they ought to be eating, and now the product is more readily available.” Over the next few weeks, Juice Press will open locations on North Eighth Street in Williamsburg, by Andrew J. Hawkins courtesy of juice press JUICE PRESS recently opened an outpost on East 10th Street in Manhattan. Brooklyn; on West 82nd Street and Columbus Avenue; and on upper Madison Avenue. Mr. Antebi is also eyeing sites on Columbus Circle, on Third Avenue near East 80th Street, and in Murray Hill. Stores range in size from 200 to 2,500 square feet. That burst of growth follows the company’s taking a major swig of fresh funding. Mr. Antebi recently sold stakes in Juice Press to Kenny Dichter, founder of aviation company Marquis Jet, and Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira. Competitors gaining “If I had stayed sole owner of the store, I would not have had this velocity,” explained Mr. Antebi. Yet as the $5 billion juicing industry mushrooms—U.S. sales of juicers were up 71%, to $215 million, for the 12 months ended in November compared with the year-earlier period, according to NPD Group Inc.—competitors are gaining. Manhattan-based juicer Organic Avenue recently announced it plans to open an additional four locations this year, bringing its local count to 12. The company, headed by former Kaplan Inc. CEO Jonathan Grayer, expects to eventually have 20 stores in the New York area. Blueprint Cleanse, which home-delivers its wares, is also expanding quickly. Mr. Antebi thinks he can hold his own in the luxury space, especially since his juices, at $9 to $12, are priced slightly higher than those of his rivals. He hopes to take the product to other cities like Miami and Los Angeles, but not this year. “I want to remain the über-elite, the highest quality of pressed juice,” he said. Ⅲ Convenient access to major business hubs. Subways & Highways just blocks away. COMMERCIAL UNITS WITH FLEXIBLE SPACE. PREBUILT/BUILT TO SUIT www.bushterminal.com W H E R E B U S Iwww.bushterminal.com E S NESS LIV Industrial, Ofﬁce, Creative, Warehouse/Distribution, Manufacturing, Retail, and Technology. 866.361.0769 lease@bushterminal.com 6 | Crain’s New York Business | March 4, 2013 882 Third Avenue, Brooklyn newscom He has also raised $7 million in venture capital from investors including Ken Langone of Home Depot and hedge-fund manager Stan Druckenmiller. BY ADRIANNE PASQUARELLI Three-year-old juicing company Juice Press is squeezing out more retail locations. The rapidly growing chain, which sells cold-pressed juices, smoothies and dehydrated snacks, opened its seventh location this past weekend on Prince Street in SoHo. Meanwhile, Chief Executive Marcus Antebi said he has three more outposts under construction and is negotiating for sites for three more. By the end of the year, the company, which boasts fashion designer Cynthia Rowley as a fan, should have at least 13 locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn. THE INSIDER Invasion of the bridge-shoppers I n the run-up to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority fare and toll increases that took effect Sunday, March 3, the public and media focused on straphangers and motorists paying more. But some will pay less. They are known to traffic engineers as bridge-shoppers. And what they do is a major problem, according to transportation expert Sam Schwartz, who warns of an overlooked consequence of the third toll hike in three years. Thousands of drivers will avoid the increase by detouring through traffic-choked ’hoods to free East River bridges, said the former city traffic commissioner, known as Gridlock Sam. The result will be more congestion, fuel inefficiency and pedestrian fatalities, he said. “Today I would estimate 50,000 cars, trucks and buses [crossing the free bridges],” he said last week. “On Monday, I’m estimating 60,000—another 10,000 will switch and only aggravate the situation at the free bridges.” At the RFK Triborough Bridge, Queens-Midtown Tunnel, Throgs Neck Bridge, BronxWhitestone Bridge and Hugh Carey Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, cash tolls rose to $7.50 each way (from $6.50) and E-ZPass tolls to $5.33 (from $4.80). They jumped on the Verrazano-Narrows, Henry Hudson, Cross Bay and Marine Parkway bridges, too. “Every time there’s a toll increase, more and more drivers hop off the Long Island Expressway at Van Dam Street to avoid going straight ahead to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel,” Mr. Schwartz said, “and they saturate the streets of Sunnyside and Long Island City, snaking their way to the Queensboro Bridge.” Mr. Schwartz last year proposed to lower existing bridge tolls and to start charging fees on the free East River crossings. A few mayoral candidates have publicly embraced Mr. Schwartz’s plan, but the leading contenders have not. As traffic increases, Mr. Schwartz predicted, officials will take up the issue in 2014, after the citywide election. “We’re at a crisis point where people aren’t going to stand for it much longer,” he said. Closed for business After 11 years of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New Yorkers appear ready for a change. Only 10% of voters are “enthusiastic” about electing a business executive as mayor, a Quinnipiac poll found. Enthusiasm for other types was higher: 27% for a female mayor, 18% for an African-American, 17% for a Hispanic, 15% for an Asian-American, 15% for a gay or lesbian candidate and 13% for the spouse of a gay or lesbian (Public Advocate Bill de Blasio’s wife once identified as a lesbian, and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn married her female partner). Kathryn Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York, a business group supportive of Mr. Bloomberg, dismissed the poll. “ ‘Business executive’ is a professional category and would only be a relevant counterpoint if they had also asked, ‘Would you be comfortable with a labor-leader candidate, or a doctor, or an entertainer?’ ” she said. “In short, I think it is meaningless.” Poll respondents likely interpreted the question as whether they would vote for Mr. Bloomberg again, depressing the results, said Bruce Gyory, a political consultant for Corning Place Communications. “I actually think it does reflect Bloomberg fatigue,” he said. “The true test would be a question which juxtaposed government experience as background, versus business” as the most desirable attribute in the next mayor. Ⅲ Crain’s Insider, our award-winning politics newsletter, is now a blog. 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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - March 4, 2013

Crains New York - March 4, 2013
IN THE BOROUGHS
IN THE MARKETS
THE INSIDER
SMALL BUSINESS
REAL ESTATE DEALS
BUSINESS PEOPLE
OPINION
GREG DAVID
REPORT: 2013 ELECTIONS
CLASSIFIEDS
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
SOURCE LUNCH
OUT AND ABOUT
SNAPS

Crains New York - March 4, 2013