Photo by George Mahe
St. Louis has lost another beloved eatery. Pumpernickles Delicatessen (11036 Olive) quietly closed over the weekend.
A brief announcement was made on social media on July 4: “Pumpernickles Delicatessen has permanently closed due to economic conditions. We thank our customers for your continuing support and patronage. After all these years, you are family to us. Best wishes to everyone!”
Harlan Levin, owner of the deli for the past 10-plus years, says sales “had fallen off the last several years and were only slowly, slowly recovering to pre-COVID—by which I mean profitable—levels.”
Courtesy Pumpernickles
Classic Pumperwich, this one with scrambled and fried eggs, turkey sausage, tomatoes, and pepperjack cheese on an everything bagel.
Levin was proud to have kept all of his employees on board throughout the pandemic but says neither he nor his son had drawn a paycheck in over two years. “I wasn’t sure I wanted to wait out the recovery,” he says. “What had been fun for so many years had become a grind. Even with a rent reduction from the landlord, the business was barely profitable," despite constant accolades, a something-for-everyone menu, and the 50 gallons of chicken soup that the restaurant sold each week.
Levin says several other reasons led to the decision to shutter the business. “My weekday sales depend on the office buildings around us, and they’re still largely empty,” he says. “Catering is off. At-home shivas have declined. I used to sell two or three shiva trays per day; now I'm lucky to do one every three weeks."
“Our lease was up for renewal in June,” he adds. “There’s probably going to be a [convenience store] next door; I’m going to lose in-front parking. Add to that the fact that I’m 67, I just had knee replacement surgery, and that I should have increased prices twice by now but haven’t. All signs pointed to either selling or closing.”
Levin listed the property six months ago but had no takers. (Another deli in the same ZIP code, Kohn’s Kosher Deli & Meat, at 10405 Old Olive, is on the market as well.) Levin says one of his sons has found success in another career, and his other son is "35, degreed, and young enough to start a new career." He says he bought the business for them, but told them recently, "it’s best you go in another direction—this is not the business for you anymore. Things have changed. The business has changed.”
Asked what's in his future, the ever-affable Levin says, “For the next month, nothing. A whole lot of nothing.”
