Business & Tech
The Endless Vine Closing After 16 Years
The Franklin Lakes wine bar and concert venue will have discounted prices on its inventory in preparation for closing its doors in June.
For 16 years, The Endless Vine, located in the Franklin Lakes Road shopping center that also contains the Market Basket, has served high-end wines in both the store's bar and retail section, offering occasional musical performances to patrons spending the evening hours .
The family-operated business announced this week that it will end its long run in Franklin Lakes this June, ending its regular business hours June 1 and offering limited hours until it closes completely at the end of the month.
"We're taking a break," said Laura Simonyan, who runs the store with her mother, remaining hopeful that the business would reopen in another capacity in the future.
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For the remainder of its run, the store will be offering discounts on its wines in an attempt to sell off the remainder of its inventory before the doors close.
"We have a large cellar of rare and fine wines that we're trying to sell before we close," Simonyan said.
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Christopher Cohane, who throughout his childhood came to the Endless Vine with his father, Frank, wrote an essay memorializing the closing of the store and remembering Eric, Laura's brother, who ran the store until passing away four years ago.
"Eric is no longer there and it's closing this summer," Cohane wrote, "but its customers, whether they knew him or not, have a sense of what the bar represents and how they should honor that by simply being genuine and interacting with others, sharing their stories and lives."
Cohane continued that "places like the Endless Vine, with their unique identity and interesting customers and employees, are places not easily forgotten and allow for memorable relationships to form and friendships to be solidified."
Simonyan hopes that customer base will come to the store in its final few weeks, not only to take advantage of the sales, but to spend a few nights soaking up the last of the bar's unique atmosphere.
"We're goint to open up a few nights when we can," she said, "to let customers come and say good bye and hang out."
