Palombo Bakery closes

For years, the Palombo Bakery on Riverdale Avenue has offered goods lovingly made at the older branch of the establishment on Arthur Avenue. You could buy $2 Italian loafs of bread, $2.50 croissants and $15-a-pound biscotti along with coffee and tea.

Last week, the local bakery was the site of an auction where other storeowners came for refrigerators, ovens, an espresso machine and furniture at fire sale prices.

“To me, it’s sad. I’ve been on both sides of an auction… If you’re on the selling side, it’s not fun,” said local realtor Robert Wachsman, a friend of the bakery’s manager who passed through the store on the day of the auction.

After about 10 years in business here, the bakery closed for good over the summer. A sign said it would shut for vacation from July to August, but owner Paul Palombo decided not to reopen the store.

Mr. Palombo was not available for comment, and a manager at the bakery during the Sept. 24 auction declined to discuss the circumstances of the closure. But difficulty paying rent may have been a factor in the change, which came as Palombo faced stiff competition from the nearby Corner Cafe, Mother’s Bake Shop, Starbucks and Moss Café.

The building manager for the 3700 Riverdale Ave. property declined to comment on why Palombo was closing or state what will come to the site next.

Two other bakeries owned by Mr. Palombo, near Yankee Stadium and on Arthur Avenue, will remain open, according to the bakery manager.

But news of the Riverdale Avenue bakery’s closure came as a shock to longtime customers.

“Oh, my god! What happened here?” Martha Geller said to her husband as they approached the bakery’s entrance moments before the auction started.

“My grandchild is 11. And I came here when he was a baby. Since then, I’ve been coming,” added Ms. Geller, a woman of a certain age. “I’m shocked. I’m so shocked.”

Another customer, Toni Castellucci, stepped inside the empty bakery to snap photos of the cozy interior and sky-blue ceiling with her smartphone.

She said she regularly took her grandchildren there after school when they were little.

“It was a whole tradition,” said Ms. Castellucci, 72, who added that Palombo Bakery’s cheese-filled cannoli were among her and her grandchildren’s favorite sweets.

The manager said he did not know what will come next to 3700 Riverdale Ave., where giant windows provide a sweeping view of the neighborhood.

“I really support local businesses,” said Ms. Castellucci. “Maybe we’ll have another local business come in. I hope there’s not a Subway, not a Starbucks — please.”