The first time Mr. V’s was for sale or to close was May 2023. Owner and daughter of Mr. V, Maggie, was tired. She needed a break from working the stove, keeping the books and running to the store to keep ingredients and inventory in stock.
In 2023, A Little Beacon Blog was sent an anonymous tip that Maggie’s lease was coming up, and it wasn’t looking good. In this epidemic of rent hikes in Beacon, ALBB went in to interview Maggie for the story. She was asking $199,000 for the sale of the business and hoped the prospective new owner would keep the name. She also said she wanted to work for the new owner: “Oh yes, I would put in a couple days a week working. Just to give me something to do. I want to walk in as an employee, and walk out the door for the day.”
After the interview, ALBB wrote about the prospect of Mr. V’s closing if they didn’t find a buyer. Once that article published, a flurry of activity happened, and some suitors emerged.
When ALBB went to check on Maggie a few weeks later, she seemed pleased with the situation. The new lease was manageable and went month-to-month, yet she scoffed a little (with a smile) that people had the impression that Mr. V’s was closing. Despite Maggie’s quotes in the article saying that it was for sale and she wasn’t sure if she would keep it open if the lease couldn’t be worked out or a new buyer found. A year and a half later, she’d kept it open.
Fellow Main Street Business Emerges To Buy Mr. V’s
One and a half years later, a prospective and serious buyer of Mr. V’s emerged: Cristhia Acevedo, owner and creator of Dulce Cielo MX, the Mexican food stall in Hudson Valley Food Hall. Like several other vendors who start out in Hudson Valley Food Hall, Cristhia needed to grow into a bigger space. Her eye was on a new space in a building being built now, but that was at least over a year off or more, depending on how construction went.
She needed to keep cooking, and Mr. V’s seemed like the perfect fit. Along her buying journey, Cristhia kept ALBB in the loop, sharing her joy and challenges along the way of the buying process. She retained an attorney, and worked with a local bank to secure a commercial loan. She got the bank’s approved to pay Mr. V’s $125,000, and she paid the downpayment to secure the sale until March 1, 2025.
Cristhia met the landlord of the building, who needed to feel comfortable with Cristhia as a new tenant. The building owner approved as well. The building owner talked to Cristhia about putting in new floors, and how Cristhia would work around that while keeping the place open.
At the time, Cristhia was ecstatic but cautious. She kept quiet and focused while the bank did their research on her, and she provided the bank with more and more homework. Cristhia only called ALBB (usually exploding with excitement through the phone) when affirmative approvals came in, or dates to move the process forward. “I did it alone! This was my hard work! Just with my clients and my food! I don’t have partners. Every dollar I have tracked and earned to be approved for this.” Sometimes, Cristhia still cleans houses if she wasn’t cooking at the food hall.
Plus, this woman to woman transaction filled Cristhia with pride. She told ALBB she felt honored to have this long running Beacon business trusted in her hands. She planned to keep all of the staff and Maggie, to learn from Maggie on how Maggie cooked her special bacon egg sandwiches.
Cristhia and her staff at Dulce Cielo MX are seasoned chefs of Mexican food, but the menu of Mr. V’s was going to stay the same. Cristhia was preparing herself to wake up as early as Maggie and the staff to open for the city employees and commuters who come early.
Edit 5/25/2025: Originally this article said the name would stay the same. But Cristhia was going to change the name, keep the menu, and add her Mexican menu to the top.
The Pivot On The Sale
With the deposit in, March 1st was the date in the contract when it all needed to be signed. The attorneys and the bank were working together to finalize the commercial loan. With money moving forward and a closing date approaching, Cristhia gave her notice at the Food Hall, that she was moving to a new location. She couldn’t lose any time with sales.
Word spread around with the regulars at the Food Hall that she was purchasing Mr. V’s, and the vibe turned celebrational. She held her last Taco Tuesday, and floods of congratulatory comments and sales came in.
But then things got quiet. Cristhia received a update from her attorney that the seller canceled the transaction of the sale. The week prior, her attorney had asked the sellers to hold off canceling, and requested to extend the closing date to allow the loan to process. Yet, the downpayment check was returned. Everyone’s work was done. The deal was dead.
