By Ted Cohen VDC/BDN
A longtime bagel emporium in Vermont’s largest city has closed up shop amid widening competition.
“I'm sorry but Feldman's has gone out of business,” says a sign posted on the front door of the Pine Street bakery.
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Word of the popular bagel shop’s apparent demise first filtered out on Reddit, where Feldman's detractors - complaining about poor service and stale bagels - said the outlet had been having trouble finding help.
In fact, a now-dated sign posted outside the business Thursday said "help wanted."
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Vermont Daily Chronicle/Burlington Daily News confirmed the store's closing with an on-site visit Thursday afternoon.
Feldman's has been facing increasing competition from area bagel shops, including Meyer's and Burlington Bagel Bakery.
Roy Feldman introduced his "strictly New York style bagels and bialys" to Vermont in 1979 when he opened up two Bagel Bakery shops in Burlington.
The businesses thrived, but Feldman closed the doors to venture out onto something new.
In 2013 he reopened Feldman's, this time with his daughter, Maddy Feldman, at the Pine Street location in Burlington's south end.
After four successful years, the family decided to sell the business to Bob Leonard in 2017.
Leonard expanded Feldman's by opening a second bagel shop on North Main Street in St. Albans, Vermont.
Feldman's also expanded to a third location in the Shelburne Bay Plaza right off of Shelburne Road in 2019.
The last addition, in Enosburg, opened in 2020.
Calls to all of the shops went unanswered Thursday.
