The Hole in This Bagel Shop’s Business Model? It’s Too Popular.
The New York Times
Apollo Bagels in the West Village is drawing lines out the door — and most of the way down the block. Now it’s in a legal fight to stave off eviction.
The problem for Apollo Bagels begins outside its cramped West Village corner storefront and ends, at peak hours, more than 100 feet down the block.
That is the reach of a line of hungry customers who wait patiently outside the shop on weekend mornings and afternoons, seeking a taste of a chewy, crunchy bagel that has been ranked as one of the best in bagel-crazed New York City.
On a recent Sunday, the line included Emma Richardson, 23, who lives in Paris and was capping a 10-day trip to New York with a visit to Apollo Bagels after an American friend told her she “had to go.”
Galen Hughes, 31, who hunts down food that has gone viral in her spare time, had booked an early train from Philadelphia to squeeze in the wait before heading to a Broadway matinee.
And Ryan Krebs, 34, said he had walked from his home in nearby SoHo to try Apollo Bagels and see its “infamous” line.
Less than four months after Apollo Bagels opened on this corner, its second location in the city, it faces an unlikely and possibly intractable challenge: It has gotten too popular.
