"We were dealing with death by a thousand cuts," James Smallwood told St. Louis Magazine in August, when he announced that 33 Wine Shop & Bar would close after 25 years in Lafayette Square. His explanation was blunt: "The costs were going through the roof."
Four weeks earlier, the business next door had closed for much the same reason. In the same weeks, two blocks away on South 18th Street, a new café opened on a plan meant to keep those costs down. That plan matters more than any single opening or closing this year, because it shows which kind of business is holding up in the Square right now.
Two addresses, one month
The 1900 block of Park Avenue has been the center of the neighborhood's business district for a long time. This summer, two storefronts in the middle of it went quiet within four weeks of each other.
| Address | Business | Last day | Reason given |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1915 Park Ave. | Baileys' Chocolate Bar | Aug. 1, 2026 | Part of a company reorganization; owners cited food costs, interest rates, labor and financial obligations |
| 1913 Park Ave. | 33 Wine Shop & Bar | Aug. 28, 2026 | Rising costs and falling revenue after 25 years |
The Chocolate Bar closed on the same day as Baileys' Range in Shaw. Dave and Kara Bailey described both closures as the last step in a reorganization that began the previous fall, with resources going to the group's two Rooster locations and its catering business. St. Louis Public Radio's August roundup listed both Park Avenue closures under Lafayette Square.
As of late October, neither space has an announced new tenant. In July, Dave Bailey told St. Louis Magazine that the group still held a lease at 1915 Park and hoped to host private events there "for the next month or two." He added that "buy, lease, or takeover options" were available and that the space "would make great second-generation restaurant spaces." When 33 Wine's owners announced the closure, Sauce Magazine reported that they were closing that chapter and looking forward to what came next. The coverage did not name a plan for 1913 Park.
One practical note: 33 Wine's own website still shows Tuesday-through-Saturday hours. The bar's final night was Aug. 28.
The opening on 18th Street was built around a shared kitchen
Picky Café opened at 1410 S. 18th St. on Monday, Aug. 31, three days after 33 Wine's last service. Its business setup is what sets it apart from the summer's closings.
Owner Erin Budde put the café together with her sister, Bethany Budde Cohen, who has run SqWires across the street at 1415 S. 18th for 25 years. Picky has about 1,100 square feet. Instead of fitting a full kitchen into that space, the two businesses split the work. According to St. Louis Magazine, SqWires serves as Picky's commissary kitchen, and the café sells SqWires' prepared foods in its on-site market.
Read next to Smallwood's "death by a thousand cuts," that arrangement looks like a direct answer to the cost problem. One kitchen supplies two counters. A new storefront doesn't have to build out its own commercial kitchen, and an established restaurant gets a second place to sell food it already makes. Budde described the goal as a place "small enough that I could landscape beautifully, garden, and raise vegetables," with "a really small menu."
On a weekday, that looks like this:
- Hours: 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week
- At the counter: breakfast, lunch, baked goods, coffee and smoothies, with quiche, soup, sandwiches, salads, biscotti and coffee cake rotating on an "of the day" basis
- In the market: local produce, flowers, curated goods and grab-and-go food, including SqWires' prepared dishes
- Outside: an urban garden in front of a building that dates to the 1890s
The 6 a.m. opening is a real change. Park Avenue Coffee at 1919 Park, which sits just past the two empty storefronts, lists a 7 a.m. opening on weekdays and 7:30 a.m. on Sundays. Its official page notes that hours can change without notice. Picky's daily 6 p.m. close also runs well past Park Avenue Coffee's 2 p.m. close on Sundays and Mondays. For anyone looking for coffee and a pastry early, or a quiche at 4 p.m. on a Monday, the closest answer is now on 18th Street.
SqWires is still busy across the street. Its calendar lists weekend brunch from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and evening performances, and its restaurant is open Tuesday through Sunday. Together, the two sisters' businesses now cover that corner of 18th Street from 6 a.m. into the evening.
On Chouteau, the same idea at building scale
The shared-overhead idea shows up again at 2017 Chouteau Ave., in the Centennial Malt House, the former Vin de Set building that Sauce places just outside the neighborhood's technical boundary. Raw bar Extra Wavy and speakeasy Prohibition already share the building. Extra Wavy's seafood was featured in St. Louis Magazine's 2026 A-List in August. Prohibition has live music on its calendar for Thursday, Oct. 29, and it is open Tuesday through Saturday.
A third business is still getting ready to open there. The Malt House Butcher, Sam Rice's first venture, was expected to open in early September. St. Louis Magazine's Oct. 5 openings tracker lists it as "late 2026." It won't be a walk-in shop to start. Rice plans to begin with cut-to-order halves and quarters of beef plus wholesale accounts. The order-to-delivery time is about three weeks, and a retail store is a long-term goal. "I want to incrementally grow on purpose," he told Sauce.
Once the butcher opens, the building will hold three businesses with different hours and customers under one roof. On 18th Street, two businesses share one kitchen. In both cases the costs that closed two standalone Park Avenue storefronts are being spread across more than one business.
Park Avenue's remaining anchors
The 1900 block is still open for business. Two long-running neighbors sit right beside the empty storefronts:
- Park Avenue Coffee, 1919 Park: open Monday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., according to its site
- Polite Society, 1923 Park: dinner seven nights a week, plus weekend brunch and reservations
Farther west, Square One Brewery & Distillery at 1727 Park is still taking reservations and online orders. Eleven Eleven Mississippi at 1111 Mississippi is still offering reservations, pickup and delivery. Neither St. Louis Public Radio's nor Ladue News' September roundup listed any Lafayette Square closures. The August losses on Park Avenue were the summer's only closings in the neighborhood.
December brings everyone back to the park fence
Whatever happens at 1913 and 1915 Park, the neighborhood's two big holiday events are already on the calendar, and both center on Lafayette Park. The Lafayette Square Association lists them as follows:
- Light Up the Square + Pet Parade, Saturday, Dec. 5. The association says more details are coming.
- Holiday Parlor Tour and Holiday Market, Sunday, Dec. 13, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Decorated historic homes open to visitors, carolers walk the streets, local vendors line the Lafayette Park fence, and free trolleys run between tour stops. Proceeds support the association's preservation and beautification work.
Tickets for the tour are sold through the association's GiveSmart page, which lists the event as running until 5 p.m. That is an hour later than the association's own event page shows, so plan around the 4 p.m. end time for homes.
The Parlor Tour is a good showcase for this year's shift. Visitors walking from the park market toward Park Avenue will pass the two dark storefronts on the 1900 block. Coffee is at Park Avenue Coffee next door, and a quiche from the SqWires kitchen is a short walk away at Picky Café, which opens at 6 a.m. that Sunday.
If you own on or near Park Avenue, it helps to know how storefront turnover like this year's changes the way buyers see your block. When you're ready, Adam Briggs can walk you through a personalized home valuation that accounts for what has changed nearby this year. Request a personalized home valuation with Adam.
