Westfield Business To Close After 70 Years

WESTFIELD, NJ - The owner of Castle Bootery, a store that offers footwear fittings for infants, children, and young adults, informed customers via email on Friday that they had lost their lease and would be closing Dec. 30 after seven decades in business.

However, their landlord says that isn't the case. In the announcement Eric Graff said the business he has owned since 1995 was being "forced to close."

Andrew Calcagno, the new property owner of 50-52 Elm Street in Downtown Westfield where Castle Bootery is located said that isn't true.

"Like many of you, we received email notice on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018 that Castle Bootery decided to close at the end of the year. This was the first 'notice' we received that Castle Bootery was not renewing its lease as was our understanding through the recent property transfer," Calcagno said in an email.

Calcagno said as Westfield residents that support local business he and his family were loyal customers of Castle Bootery for many years. When they purchased the building from Graff, he knew Castle Bootery’s lease was expiring on at the end of the year.

"If Eric wanted Castle Bootery to 'stay in business,' all he had to do is simply renew his own lease, but Eric decided to just let his lease lapse," Calcagno said. "We purchased Eric’s building based upon the current rent roll and prospective rent roll, as we had reached a clear understanding with Eric that Castle Bootery would renew its lease based upon the same terms Eric had negotiated for himself as the prior building owner."

Calcagno said once Graff received the proceeds from the sale of his building, it became apparent that the attempts to renegotiate his lease terms as an incentive to keep this long-term, valued tenant were in vain.

"We don’t understand the claim that Castle Bootery has 'lost their lease,' Calcagno said. "They simply chose not to renew their lease."

Calcagno said this scenario has no winners.

"We are saddened by Castle Bootery’s announcement, not because the purchase of the building was predicated on a full rent roll, but because we did not want to lose such an important retailer Downtown," Calcagno said. "We believe in Westfield and are very committed to the long-term health and prosperity of our town."

Graff, in his announcement email said that the entire store would be running a 20 percent off sale through closing and expressed gratitude to the community.

"We want to thank all of you for your support and patronage over the years," Graff said. "We have greatly enjoyed working with you and your children and will miss being a part of the community."

Messages to Graff for comment were not returned.

(Photo courtesy of Google Earth)

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