Seeing is believing. The Dunkin’ Donuts on Utica and Avenue K is now open for business. You’ve been given another outlet to give you that American nutrition you need to start your work day : A jelly donut, a large mocha iced latte with whipped cream, and why don’t you throw in a few ‘a those munchkin things. Ahh…the food pyramid would be proud.

Well, It’s finally happened. They’re out of business. This time, It’s safe to say for good. The Furniture Showplace has burnt down (and of course the fire was unintentional and completely accidental…right? See “Furniture Scamplace). When I heard the fire engines last night zooming down my block I didn’t think much of it until I got a heads up from Marineparker.net (Thanks for that) let me know the Scamplace burnt down. When I got there around 4:00 pm today there was a man knocking on the door holding a pink piece of paper while his two children watched from the car. I felt bad for him but I couldn’t help but laugh a little at the fact he was knocking on the door when the roof was clearly caved in and the signs singed.  He told me that he had bought something from them and they told him to come back today and that the paper he was holding was his receipt. I explained to him what type of business they ran, and he just looked miserable. After he drove away, I looked in through a crack in the side of the building and it wreaked of gasoline.

An improvement in my book.

Ok, this is a very speculative situation, and I’ve got my theories.

1- They burnt it down themselves for the insurance money.

2- A disgruntled customer got their revenge.

3- That massive lightning we had struck the building and Mother Nature got her revenge.

4- It spontaneously combusted. (Not putting all my chips on that one)

About two weeks ago I went to the Furniture Showplace and saw this sign which says:

GOING OUT FOR BUSINESS  (Unfortunately furniture doesn’t teach grammar. These guys make signs like they do business.)

50-70% OFF (WOW! WHAT A DEAL! Now they’ll only take half your money)

3,000,000 dollar inventory. (…yea)

2385 Utica Avenue

Theres a number on the sign…but don’t even bother. It’s not in use.

Hey man, catch up!

On Sunday June 19th, Vincent Viola, 74, and Terry Bollia, 71, went to the Furniture Showplace, a relatively new store that opened about a year ago, on Utica Avenue in search of buying a coffee table and two lamp tables. They found what they were looking for and payed their due amount: $130, but what they didn’t expect was to be robbed blind. Mr. Viola was told he would recieve the tables when they were shipped to the store, but a few days turned into a few weeks, and still no sign of the tables…or the staff at the Furniture Showplace. Mr. Viola went back to the showplace for a straight week, but the lights were off and nobody was there. He spoke to other Furniture Showplace customers that had shown up to the store while it was (and still is for that matter) abandoned only to find out that they were going through the same problem he was. One customer he spoke to said he paid on May 5th and still has not gotten his furniture. He decided to investigate and spoke to the owner of Furniture-To-Go, a block away from the Furniture Showplace.

According to Mr. Viola, the owner there said that he is the brother of the owner of Furniture Showplace. He told him that he doesn’t speak with his brother and that he has been in business for 25 years and runs a legitimate company while his brother, on the other hand, has only been open for a year. I did some research on my own after this story was uncovered to me and found something that completely shocked me. Channel 7 News had done a story on them months ago! It turns out that another woman had been swindled out of $800 dollars and decided to get Channel 7 News and Tappy Phillips to investigate.

Take a look:

The woman in this video had a happy ending, but unfortunately Mr. Viola, Ms. Bollia, and apparantly many others have not. I went to the Furniture Showplace yesterday, July 2nd, to find out what was going on, and this is what I saw:

The store has a sign that says they will be back.

But the store is empty and disheveled. 

There is trash everywhere and things are clearly out of place. 

The sign claims that they’ll be back, but with all of this controversy it makes you wonder. Will they really?

These scam artists even found a way into the Daily News. 

This certificate on the window of the store says Business Integrity Commision. The Company on the card says G.B Carting Corp. The only thing is…there is nothing about them at all on the internet. 

I decided to walk the block to Furniture-To-Go to see if they had any information, but they were closing shop for the day. I did manage to get a few minutes with a salesman who worked there and asked him about the Furniture Showplace. He told me that a lot of people have been coming up to him about the Furniture Showplace but claimed that “We’re not affiliated with them dudes.” When I asked whether or not the owners of both furniture stores were brothers, he stated he knew nothing about that and quickly walked away. 

For those of you who live in or around the Mill Basin area might remember not too long ago that this Furniture Showplace used to be the Apple Tree:

This google maps view of 2385 Utica shows just how new Furniture Showplace is.

If anybody has any information on the Furniture Showplace or has had this happen to them by the Furniture Showplace, please contact me via millbasinblog.net. 

Also, if you would like to contact furniture showplace their number is 1718-253-0100, and once again the address is 2385 Utica Avenue, Brooklyn N.Y 11234. According to Manta.com, the President of the company is named David Kaminsky, if that’s even his real name.

Office For Rent

Call: 1516-295-2914

2066 Utica Ave 

Corner store For Rent

Call: 1718-444-5777

Utica & M

Store For Lease

700 Square feet

Call: 1718-887-6200

1910 Utica Avenue (Store For Rent)      

1920 Utica Avenue (For Sale House and Key)

Aviator Sports and Recreation Center in Floyd Bennet Field hosted the Irish Festival on June 27th and 28th. There was a large turnout both days and featured Irish bands food and drink (hamburgers, hot dogs, ices, pizza, hot pretzels, soda), beer (on tap from a truck!?!?), inflatable rides, arts and crafts, and even a clown.

Beer coming from a truck. I have to admit. It blew my mind. 

The bands played all day and all night on both days, and featured songs in rock and traditional Celtic music, bagpipes and all!

This doesn’t really look like a fair fight.

There was a lot of merchandise at the festival including shirts, hats, buttons, four leaf clovers, jewelry, and other irish souvenirs. 

Caffeine addicts rejoice! A new Dunkin’ Donuts is going to open on Utica Avenue and Avenue K here in Mill Basin. This way when you’re walking around looking for a store that isn’t closed and for rent, you can be jacked up on caffeine. And look on the bright side: At least the coffee will give you the energy to walk 8 miles to the nearest open store. ( See Mill Basin For Sale.)

Is that really the first order of business? Making the doorknob into a large pink D?