The Nassau Street smorgasbord just got smaller.
Einstein Bros. Bagels closed Thursday morning as part of a restructuring undertaken by its parent company, Einstein/Noah Bagel Corp. The company announced it would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy that same day.
Spokeswoman Anita-Marie Hill said in an interview Friday that the Princeton store was not performing well financially. "We review how all our stores are doing, like any other business," she said. "We found that that particular store was not proving to be profitable."
The store — located on Nassau Street, adjacent to PNC Bank and Hinkson's — was one of 74 establishments closed across the nation Thursday as part of corporate streamlining. The Einstein/Noah Bagel Corp. will continue to operate 465 stores nationwide.
The store's employees were not notified that it would be closing until Thursday morning, according to Hill. "When you announce weeks before that a store is going to close, you change the chain of command," she said. "You start a lot of fears and rumors, and you start to have a lot of people leaving, not wanting to work."
"You can't always give as much notice as you would like. Most employees at that store were part-time employees, and we paid them on a day-to-day basis during the course of the week," she added. "We tried to make it as simple a transition as possible."
In the wake of Alfred Kahn's announcement last month that he is seeking a new owner for his store — Abel Bagel — the closing of Einstein Bros. leaves Nassau Street with an acute bagel shortage.
Kahn said he believes the Princeton area is a good market for bagel shops. "It's the little town stores that make it," he said. "The little town stores were here before the big chains, and they will be the ones here after the big chains close."
The high rent of Einstein's store location may have contributed to its difficulties remaining profitable, Kahn said.
"Einstein's — you know I used to call them Frankenstein's — was never any competition for Abel Bagel. We have the best location for a bagel shop in town," he said.
"Princeton has changed a lot over the years, but you always need a store like Abel Bagel," he added.
Kahn said he was surprised to find the store closed Thursday morning. "I felt bad for their employees," he said. "I told them, if I had any openings, they could come work for me."
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