Nuts Factory Expands in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens

Chain Nuts Factory, which sells a mix of nuts, dried fruit, candy and spices, is expanding across the five boroughs with multiple leases signed in the past few months.

The largest of the transactions was the retailer taking 3,000 square feet at 1290 Third Avenue, at the corner of East 74th Street on the Upper East Side. The lease runs for five years with the option of a five-year extension, said Tri State Commercial Realty's Richard Babeck, who represented the tenant in all of these deals. Asking rent for the space was $84 a square foot, and landlord Friedland Properties did not have a broker.

And at 282 Columbus Avenue between West 73rd and 74th streets on the Upper West Side, Nuts Factory took 2,200 square feet for five years. Asking rent was $122 a square foot. Rafe Evans from Walker, Malloy & Company represented the landlord.

"The new store looks fantastic and recalls ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,’" said Evans. "They are a welcome addition to the rather eclectic mix of stores on Columbus Avenue."

In Brooklyn, the chain took 2,000 square feet for five years at 100 Smith Street, just south of Atlantic Avenue on the border between Downtown Brooklyn and Cobble Hill. Asking rent for the space was $132 a square foot, while the taking rent shook out to $120 a square foot, Babeck said. Ryan Condren of JLL represented the landlord, Steven D’Apuzzo, and didn't immediately return a request for comment.

Nuts Factory signed a second, smaller, Brooklyn lease in Park Slope at 244 Fifth Avenue along with deals at 2240 Broadway at West 80th Street on the Upper West Side, 70-10 Austin Street in Forest Hills, Queens, and 34-16 30th Avenue in Astoria, Queens.

"The Nuts Factory's mission is to become a local neighborhood store and we target neighborhoods that have dense communities," said Babeck. "We’re actively looking to expand across all five boroughs."

The retailer grew out of a 25-year-old Israeli business, Shkedia (Hebrew for almond tree), which sells nuts and dried fruit in 200 department and grocery stores across Israel. Now Nuts Factory, a separate U.S.-based company, has 11 locations in the five boroughs and 30 total across New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.

Rebecca Baird-Remba can be reached at [email protected].