Yet again, it will be seen as an almost victimless crime, a first world heist against people who can afford to take the loss. I would like to see both Chelsea and Sherry owners end up in jail; they certainly belong there.
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Yikes. Talk about not putting your best foot forward. Unless it’s a tribute to the little known but seminal idc decor movement of the year idk.
Shouldn’t be an issue. We just locked in a pickup for a client from CWS on Tuesday of next week.
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This is going to cause a run on the bank. Now everyone is going to panic.
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was inevitable that any article would elevate this. the reality is that the owners have been perpetuating a fraud for many years.
and like any long-term fraud, the last ones are left holding the bag.
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It just sucks, that’s all. What makes it worse is that transfer of ownership does not take place in a storage situation, so now these wines will just sit there waiting for the legal system to play out.
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If a friend of Ingrid Lewis-Martin had their collection there, the NYPD would have already sealed that place off.
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I said this a lot in the Sherry Lehmann thread- where is the SLA?
And their isn’t come consumer protection agency in NY either?
I’m very upset for the clients who didn’t get their wines out yet, and I’m really, really hoping that this works out well for them.
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One thing that I was curious about is if CWS even informed existing clients that they moved locations. Can anyone that is/was a client during the location change period comment?
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Confirmed that AFAIK there was absolutely no formal mention of the move. I happened to stop by the retail store and was informed by someone working there pretty much in passing. I was told they were using the bottom floor of the Michelangelo hotel, not a vacant TGI Fridays.
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I was a client during the move and, no, they did not inform me about it. I was the OP on this thread and was lucky to move my wine out a few months ago, but feel terrible for the folks who haven’t been as lucky.
CWS is feeling the heat, clearly, and sent out the following message today to clients. As I noted, I’m not a client anymore, but their client records are unsurprisingly not up to date.
–
Dear Storage Clients,
We wanted to write a quick note to assure everyone that your wine collections are being stored properly and our facility is being correctly maintained. Although we are experiencing some staffing issues at the moment, we will do our best to respond to your inquiries and requests in a timely fashion. We have been having problems with our landlord, Delshah Capital, for over a year now and he owes us over $1mil in reimbursement funds and is causing a lot of issues.
Please keep in mind that Chelsea Wine Vault, our retail location and Vault Manhattan, our lounge, are separate businesses but the spaces are leased from the same landlord.
We hope you continue to work with us as our 28 year old business has provided customers with great service for many years, and we will continue to do so. Thank you!
Best regards,
Storage Team
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That’s a fairly precise amount, and curious that they call out the landlord like that.
This has legal battle written all over it.
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The battle with the LL is very public now through the article, so I’m guessing they haven’t said anything that isn’t part of a public claim or counterclaim against the LL. And vetted by their lawyers. But you never know.
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I’d put some money on the “But you never know” part of that post…
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My first instinct when I read it was trying to calm the crowd. Like Kevin Bacon during the parade.
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lol. You think they are vetting things through their lawyers?
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google → news
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I went back and re-read the Post article to see if there was anything about the owners of CWS being owed money, and I came across this that basically refutes their claim-
“The Gancarzes’ landlord at both locations is Delshah Capital, which sued the businesses this month for months of unpaid rent, including a basement space below the wine store in Chelsea that the Gancarzes recently converted into a lounge, according to court documents.”
“Their irresponsibility is hurting a lot of people including employees who haven’t been paid, customers and their landlord,” said Michael Shah, head of Delshah Capital. “I think they are undercapitalized and completely disorganized.”
Delshah filed Ch 11 a few weeks ago.
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