Lola Star Boutique Signs 8-Year Lease for Coney Island Boardwalk

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Lola Star Boutique Signs 8-Year Lease for Coney Island Boardwalk

December 9, 2011 by Tricia

Dianna Carlin aka Lola Star with Shimmer in Lola Star Boutique, Coney Island Boardwalk, April 2, 2011. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Congratulations to Dianna Carlin, the first of the Boardwalk veterans to announce that she has a done deal with Zamperla’s Central Amusements International, which holds the lease on the City-owned property. Last night, the owner of the Lola Star Boutique on Coney Island’s Boardwalk tweeted, “So, I have some really incredible news…after much negotiating…Tonight I signed my lease to rent my boardwalk shop for the next 8 years!!” The boutique was one of only two Boardwalk businesses invited back by CAI last November, but lease negotiations went on for months.

Carlin is an entrepreneurial spirit whose successful projects include the Dreamland Roller Rink, a shop in Stillwell Terminal, a pop-up shop in SoHo and the new Star Pet Boutique. This afternoon, she announced a “2 TEES FOR $30 SALE” at her Boardwalk Shop this weekend “in celebration of the fact that we will be radiating our hot pink aura of fabulousness in Coney for the next 8 years!” The shop will be open Saturday and Sunday from 12 noon-5pm.

Hopefully more good news is on the way today or in the next few days. Will Boardwalk favorites Ruby’s Bar and Paul’s Daughter sign the leases which they were offered after a Miami restaurateur and Sodexo retreated from deals to take over their spaces? Negotiations have been going on since October over various clauses in the leases, leading to intense speculation about whether or not the beloved Mom and Pops will be back. As one of Ruby’s Facebook fans put it: “Arrgh! The suspense is killing me!”

UPDATE December 12, 2011…Zamperla’s Boardwalk line-up for 2012 is now set. As we posted on Friday, Paul’s Daughter signed an 8-year lease, as did Ruby’s Bar. Tom’s of Prospect Heights will open a second restaurant on the Coney Island Boardwalk, at the corner of Stillwell where Nathan’s and Cha Cha’s were located. See “Coney Island 2012: What’s New on the Boardwalk” (ATZ, November 15, 2011) for details and renderings of the new stores, including Nathan’s, Ruby’s, Paul’s Daughter and Lola Star as well as the new Sky Coaster and other rides.