Cupcakes Replace First Avenue Pierogi & Deli, Cupcake Soaps Replace Verb Cafe

Back in June, Williamsburg lost one of its oldest hipster mainstays, Verb Cafe, to rising rents. Now, a new shop is about to open in the space that housed the Bedford Avenue coffee shop. What sort of business was able to cough up the 70 percent higher rent that the landlord was demanding? A business that makes soaps shaped like cupcakes and ice cream. For now, it's actually only a seasonal pop-up, but the manager of Soap Cherie tells Bedford + Bowery there's a chance it could become permanent.

Meanwhile, in other cupcakes-replacing-old-classics news, Bedford + Bowery also learned yesterday that a bakery called Sweet Generation is moving into the space that housed the First Avenue Pierogi & Deli for 30 years, until it also closed in June. Take consolation in the fact that no one forced the old Eastern European shop out, the owners just decided it was time to retire. Plus Sweet Generation will donate some yet-undetermined amount of its profits to arts education.