The Door Store plans to close its own doors within a few months after more than six decades of business in Cambridge. The store decided to close because of rising costs and lack of business, general manager Dawn Leate said.
“It all came as sort of a shock to everyone,” Leate said of the store’s closing.
Its location at 940 Massachusetts Ave., Riverside, was once a furniture district, with around a dozen stores forming a “furniture store alley.” Over the years, “this place has become a ghost town” with a lot of businesses coming and going, Leate said.
The Door Store will operate until its inventory – which consists of custom furniture, not doors – runs out. After announcing the closing, the store discounted its material costs to half off, but kept the labor costs the same.
Leate, an employee since 2003 who oversees the company finances, said the store “really ran out of money last Monday,” with only enough money for two more weeks of payroll. A “boom of business” since announcing the closing may extend payroll.
Owner Andrew Anisimov said the store was now going “full throttle,” with every employee at work selling and in the workshop “because the customers are coming in.”
During Covid, lots of people were furnishing home offices, and desks were a hot item, but that boom ran out, said Nancy Gold, wife of owner Anisimov, in a post on social media.
The decline began in 2022, with the store doing about one-third its usual business while the cost of goods sold rose 40 percent and payroll increased 30 percent, Leate said. It’s the same year a bike lane was installed and 18 parking spaces were removed from The Door Store’s block, which Leate said contributed to the business problems.
The store’s loading zone moved down the street – and drivers parked in it illegally.
“People already complained about the parking here,” Leate said. The Door Store’s clientele consists of a mature crowd who like to drive to the store and shop in person, Leate said, and they are unable to shop without parking.
Although Leate sees the value in bike lanes, she wishes the city created “more cognizant urban planning.”
While Anisimov put some of his own money into the store to pay employees, Leate tried to combat the decline in sales, offering promotions and creating an online store where customers could mix and match features to mimic the customization of shopping in-person. No sales came from the online storefront.
The store is well known among Cambridge residents, but regular customers are uncommon. “The downside of our furniture is that it lasts,” Leate said with a laugh. (One of the responses to Gold’s online post was from a customer who remarked, “I bought a chair in the store 50 years ago and still have it and use it.”)
The flood of customers suggests there are ways to make retail work despite the loss of parking, though the closing coincides with Anisimov clearing out a family house that has resulted in a bigger than usual amount of lampshades and knickknacks for sale – the kinds of things people walking by might spot and be able to walk off with in a bag. Still, the store is also selling “some chairs and larger things,” Anisimov said Tuesday, some using the loading zone by the store and others improvising. “We won’t let them block the bike lane, but people are finding ways to quickly enough load up,” he said.
“I don’t know if ‘bowled over’ is the right term, but the amount of support we are getting – about ‘what a great place this is’ and from people who like to tell me how they bought something here a long time ago – I’m almost speechless with emotion,” Anisimov said.
Though the store opened in 1959 in The Garage mall in Harvard Square, the Anisimovs bought its current building in 1970, and Anisimov and Gold live in it over the store, Gold said.
Leate will continue to create custom furniture through her home improvement company, DJ Designs. She hopes to bring some of Door Store employees along and keep “the merry band of Door Store employees” together.
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Sad to see them closing, we have really cool architectural bookshelves we bought there (https://rakks.com/).
As mentioned in the article, lots of other furniture stores on this stretch have closed, almost all before bike lanes went in. Since I moved to Cambridge 20 years ago, the ones I remember:
Heartwood, the really awesome asian antiques store, the crappy cheapo furniture store that replaced the cool one, BoConcept opened and then closed (pre-bike lanes I think?)… I’m probably forgetting some.
For a broader geographic perspective, last year we saw high-end furniture sellers struggling across the country because of… high property costs (sounds familiar?): https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/housing-market-slowdown-home-prices-affordable-retail-expenses-furniture-sales-2023-9 “High mortgage rates and expensive property prices have made buying a home increasingly unaffordable, but the repercussions extend beyond just the housing market. Furniture retailers have reported weaker sales as Americans, who are struggling to break into the housing market, aren’t buying the usual amount of couches, tables, and home goods.”
We’ve continuously been one of the most expensive housing markets in the country for a very long time. And that comes with a cost.
If you have a city, and more generally metro region, that is ludicrously expensive to live in, a lot of renters won’t have money left over (or motivation, if they know they can’t stick around for too many years) to buy nice furniture. https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/bostons-too-expensive-so-many-young-adults-planning-to-leave-survey-says/ – that’s an Ikea mindset right there.
We’re not building much housing, so there’s not a lot of new homeowners moving in.
There’s turnover from existing homeowners, of course, but in Cambridge that’s 653 units in last 12 months. That’s not a big market.
If we want more really nice furniture stores, we need to build a lot more housing (as does the whole Boston Metro area).
Sad, loved that place. Sounds like a perfect storm of many factors. Though a furniture store in a city, especially one with minimal parking and the loading zones always being illegally blocked is extra tough.
It’s the same year a bike lane was installed and 18 parking spaces were removed from The Door Store’s block, which Leate said contributed to the business problems.
Leate said, and they are unable to shop without parking.
This can’t possibly be true – the shills tell us the bike lanes improve business!
Bicyclist are big shoppers 🤣
Small Businesses don’t need parking 😔
Toss a desk on your back and ride home with it.
And this is coming from prc who rides every week! Wow now I know why everyone is thrilled the c council paused the bike lanes!
Very sorry to see another business we’ve purchased things from destroyed. Thank you for being a part of Cambridge for so long and best of luck to the people working there. Always top notch!
This isn’t in fact the trade off and numerous studies (including in Cambridge) have shown bike lanes are at worse neutral but are generally positive for business, but if we have to choose I would much rather lose a businesses than someone’s life.
” Wow now I know why everyone is thrilled the c council paused the bike lanes!”
Just absolute gaslighting here. Over 3,000 people were willing to sign their name to the fact that they are opposed to that delay, in addition to the hundreds of people that came out to speak against it. https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-the-delay-of-separated-bike-lanes/?source=website
“Close all the small businesses” says Slaw. What a complete tool I mean fool. Wow a whole 3000 signatures omg wow that small? umm there are over 100,000 residents 🤣
No that’s not the choice to close small businesses. The choice is to pause and plan / implement the correct bike lanes that work for everyone. Isn’t that what everyone wants 🤔
I said this is a false choice but if we really have to choose between human life and private profit the choice should be clear. I think that is an extremely reasonable position and you needing to blatantly manipulate what I said to make it sound ridiculous only makes you look more so.
%3 of residents signing on to something is no small thing. It is certainly a much more massive showing than the opponents of this infrastructure have ever mustered.
It doesn’t surprise me at all that you prioritize profit over people though. These delays have consequences and no it is not what everyone wants it is what a small but disproportionately powerful and well connected minority wants.
This store closed because people under 40 (50 maybe?) do not go to random furniture stores to shop.
If it wasn’t this year, then it would’ve been in any of the next five years.
Parking is irrelevant. It’s just consumer choices.
Also prc: Cambridge has ~70k registered voters and turnout was ~23k in 2023. I’d say that 3k participating in a petition is a meaningful number in that respect
@prc Tell me: How many lives is a furniture store worth?
It’s sickening to think that a furniture store should take priority over human lives.
Should we protect the business interests of a few, even if it means others will suffer?
Many bike commuters use bikes because they can’t afford cars. Shouldn’t we save the lives of disadvantaged people instead of protecting the profits of a handful of business owners?
Is that the kind of world you want to live in—one where we prioritize the profits of a few over the safety of many?
@prc. I’ve lived here long enough to know that the Door Store is the last remaining furniture store on that block. All the others closed before the bike lanes were installed.
Studies nationwide show that business owners often overestimate how many customers shop by car. The Door Store is probably making the same mistake. In fact, as the article notes, “the (recent) flood of customers suggests there are ways to make retail work despite the loss of parking.”
In any case, how many lives is the Door Store worth?
Miss ya frankd! Soo it’s not a choice of a life or the door store.
It’s what’s happening the bike lanes are PAUSED to make sure the “experts” can design and implement bike lanes for all. Not just the lunatics that are ok to close every small business in Cambridge.
Yes will the door store has been in Cambridge since 1959 and did just fine for 65 YEARS a lot longer than you’ve lived in Cambridge. No they couldn’t figure out a model to make it work and yes sure lots of factors as a small business owner knows. But as the owner stated
“a bike lane was installed and 18 parking spaces were removed from The Door Store’s block, which Leate said contributed to the business problems.”
Ok sure it’s not the only reason but small businesses have to navigate lots of things and it “contributed” to a 65 year old business closing.
Face the facts the bike lanes are paused for a reason. Let’s all work together to get the “experts” to design effective ones. Clearly it’s not working we have eyes!
@prc. More nonsense. This is a matter of life and death. People die on our streets.
The problem is that elfish, entitled individuals making baseless claims about design flaws without any evidence.
Real evidence shows that bike lanes have reduced accidents by 50%, preventing accidents and saving lives.
Your statement about the Door Store is illogical. Other stores closed long before the bike lanes were installed. High rents and other factors have caused closures on streets without bike lanes too. But you blame this one store closing on the bike lanes?
Even if, for the sake of argument, the Door Store closed because of the bike lanes, do you think the livelihood of one couple outweighs the lives and safety of many?
Bike lanes have been delayed so that selfish people, concerned only with their convenience, can try to stop them.
Everything you’ve said about bike lanes is made-up nonsense. There is zero evidence of design flaws or harm to businesses. Even if they did cause some harm, does that take priority over keeping people out of the ER or morgue?
The problem with the world today is that many people prioritize their own convenience over the welfare of others. Thank you for your contribution.
Do you all think Blockbuster was bankrupted by bike lanes too? We should look into that
Tried to order a desk top to be made from the Door Store. Store staff were friendly, but when I asked for a quote, Andrew replied that it was “impossible” for me to have a desk top made out of actual wood, because it would warp and shift, etc. Although I don’t disagree that wood will expand/contract based on humidity and temperature, people have had desk tops made of wood for… millenia.
So I went elsewhere. Instead of refusing, other places asked me for my requirements and told me what would meet my needs. I now have a walnut desk top that I’ll use until I die. It was shipped from a similarly small family-run shop in Colorado.
@prc blames everything on bike lanes. A store closes? It’s not high rents or inflation—it’s the bike lanes. A cyclist gets killed by a truck? It’s the bike lanes.
Then he claims that the bike lanes are “not working.” What a joke.
I bought furniture at the store across the street (BoConcept?) without a car. It’s called “delivery.” BoConcept closed years before the bike lanes appeared. @prc: Was that due to the bike lanes too?
The bike lanes were delayed because self-centered people opposed them, fearing they’d have to park a block or two away. These are the same people who would walk a greater distance across a large parking lot.
The claim that bike lanes are poorly designed is total BS. We know they have reduced accidents by a wide margin. They are working here like they have worked everywhere else. None of these people have offered any ideas for improving the bike lane design.
“Let’s delay it for a better plan” is a classic opposition tactic. Look at the “pause” in congestion pricing in NYC. That made no sense.
The real story is lazy, self-centered people who fear not being able to park anywhere they want.
Yes it’s a terrible store – they only navigated successfully for 65YEARS! A feat only a very very small % can achieve – bravo!
Sorry the bullies would rather any small business in Cambridge close than design bike lanes for everyone. It’s par for the course for the type of individuals the city is dealing.
Thank goodness the quick destruction lanes are PAUSED. If the attitude is bike lanes and so what if all the small businesses close well the pause will just continue indefinitely.
The city has allocated millions tens no over a hundred million dollars for bike lanes.
Do it once do it right.
Clearly this has not happened, people are being run over small businesses closing and traffic exploded – it’s embarrassing. Hopefully whenever the pause ends there are new “experts” annd or they learn from all the mistakes and it’s a success. Let’s see!
@prc Are you suggesting that 65-year-old businesses never fail or that bike lanes are the only cause when they do? That’s absurd.
The real bullies are those who prioritize convenient parking over public safety.
There is no evidence that bike lanes hurt business or that this store closed because of them. Your claims of harm are unsubstantiated.
The statement “all small businesses close” is hyperbolic. Bike lanes have been installed in cities worldwide, and small businesses have not universally failed. In fact, the opposite is true. Many businesses saw improvements, with some NYC streets showing a 40% increase in retail sales after adding bike lanes.
Anti-bike lane advocates mention “flawed design” but have yet to identify any specific flaws or evidence of resulting problems. Their main issue seems to be, “I can’t park where I want.”
“Let’s hit pause” is just a way to stop something. Cut the BS with this pause talk—your motivations are clear.
” design bike lanes for everyone.” what does this even mean? Protected bike lanes are for everyone, it is the existing door zone bike lanes that are not suited for riders of all ages and abilities.
Markets change…. I’ve been here for almost 26 years and never bought a single piece of custom furniture, nor have any neighbors I have known.
Custom furniture is an up-market thing… that in today’s market isn’t what most folks are paying for.
High end furniture market is going away in a land of apartment and condo dwellers. Like single family homes a fading thing in the city.
Hello,
Rather than debating with someone unlikely to be convinced, it may be more impactful to recruit people who are undecided, or people fully on your side but who are unaware of the outsize impact the City Council has on bike lane rollout.
Not only are these people easier to reach, but there are more of them.
For example, I presume you’ve already signed the Cambridge Bicycle Safety petition to stop the delay, but have you also shown it to three people you know at home, work, or school who might be interested?
Or, if you email Cambridge Bicycle Safety, they can send you pamphlets and posters you can put up around bike parking and blue bike stations in your area.
The lanes aren’t working as intended- it’s if you don’t want to acknowledge it. The lanes are PAUSED for a reason geez.
As for good bike lanes I was riding on beacon tonight. Great design raised up, sidewalks, still some parking, cars not in a parking lot A+ experts. Mass Ave width is significantly wider than beacon and the experts have embarrassed themselves so far there F for the experts there.
The experts can fully be blamed for the pause the danger the riders are in the traffic explosion the lost small businesses all of it. It’s mockery (on some roads) what they’ve done.
Do it right, do it once.
They are working as intended. More people are biking and they are significantly safer doing so. They are paused because 5 city councilors chose to prioritize a misguided understanding of what is best for private profit over what is best for human life.
Mass Ave is still a bad bike lane because it hasn’t been upgraded yet and the delay you support will keep it a bad bike lane even longer.
You simply have no idea what you are talking about.
“ For example, I presume you’ve already signed the Cambridge Bicycle Safety petition to stop the delay, but have you also shown it to three people you know at home, work, or school who might be interested?
“Or, if you email Cambridge Bicycle Safety, they can send you pamphlets and posters you can put up around bike parking and blue bike stations in your area.”
I have already done both of those things. I argue with these trolls not because they will be convinced, but so that their lies and propaganda don’t go unchallenged and so that observers can see it for what it is.
@prc Things aren’t true just because you say them.
The bike lanes are effective:
1. A federal DOT study showed a 50% reduction in accidents due to bike lanes.
https://highways.dot.gov/sites/fhwa.dot.gov/files/FHWA-HRT-23-025.pdf
These are injuries prevented and lives saved.
2. Bike lanes have increased cycling, which reduces pollution and traffic.
https://momentummag.com/bicycle-use-soars-following-installation-of-separated-bike-lanes-according-to-cambridge-study/
3. There is no evidence they harm businesses.
https://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/Projects/EconDev/cyclingsafetyordinanceeconomicimpactstudy
No one is buying the “let’s pause to make them better” argument. Neither you nor any anti-bike lane proponents have articulated any design flaws or suggested specific improvements.
Your argument amounts to “bike lanes are bad because I say so.”
You are making up nonsense to fit your anti-bike lane agenda.
Hi Slaw,
That is a decent point, I had not considered that. As long as you are acting with purpose and not being goaded.
@slaw +100. You can’t convince trolls like @prc, but you can counteract their lies and propaganda with the truth. Their lies will have deadly consequences. I don’t know how they sleep at night.
I guess we have to look to Somerville for leadership on an important public health issue.
Somerville reinforces commitment to safer streets.
https://www.thesomervilletimes.com/archives/133271
@FrankD beat me to it. Because the Cambridge city council failed in its leadership, we have to look to Somerville and Boston. Cambridge will be known as the city where NIMBYs win over facts and common sense.
Somerville plans to install 29 miles of new bike lanes in the next 6 years
https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2024/06/16/somerville-plans-to-install-29-miles-of-new-bike-lanes-in-the-next-6-years/
Boston announces plans for 10 new miles of bike lanes
https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2024/05/18/boston-announces-plans-for-10-new-miles-of-bike-lanes/