SO LONG, YOLATO

frozen dessert purveyor yolato finally closed its 2286 broadway location, between west 82nd and 83rd streets, after struggling to stay open when sales dropped 10 percent.

"it was a strategic decision to close it," said katherine chung, spokesperson for yolato. "it has not been able to support itself year round. we kept it open as long as we could."

the store, which opened in the spring of 2007, shut its doors permanently nov. 27.

according to yolato's president, marc merryfield, it was the first such store to open in new york city.

"as much as we were loved and supported by the neighborhood, we could not justify the rent and taxes. it is very sad," he said.

as spokesperson chung explained, business is generally slower in the winter unless stores are in a mall, but most make up the drop in sales during the summer. however, sales did not pick up last summer at the broadway location.

merryfield attributed the slowdown to the economy.

"we are using our capital to continue to expand into the wholesale and grocery business," merryfield said.