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Major Chain Stores In NYC Shrank The Most In More Than A Decade
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Dec 23, 2019
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Jake Dobkin / Gothamist
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Dec 23, 2019
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In a sign of that the retail crisis is now even hurting the industry's stalwarts, an annual report on national retailers in New York City found that the number of chain stores shrank by 3.7 percent, the biggest annual drop in more than a decade. Overall, the number of major retail stores fell by 304 to 7,832, compared to 8,136 locations last year.
The data, released Friday by the Center for an Urban Future, confirmed another foreboding trend in New York City retail, which has been upended by the growth in e-commerce. This year marks the 12th year that the Center for an Urban Future has studied the presence of national retailers in the city. Last year was the first time that it saw a decline in national retail outposts, that of 0.3 percent.
"It definitely raises a lot of question about the future of retail," said Jonathan Bowles, the group's executive director, in an interview with Gothamist/WNYC.
In the face of a changing retail landscape that has included growing competition from online retailers and rising rents, New York City has been grappling with an epidemic of empty storefronts. The situation has resulted several studies and proposals, including a plan to track vacant storefronts. Last month, in the most aggressive legislative proposal to date, Brooklyn City Councilmember Stephen Levin introduced a bill calling for the city to impose a system of commercial rent control.
Bowles noted that the shrinking footprint of major retail stores comes even as the city's economy has continued to grow.
Among the troubling statistics, the report found that chains declined broadly across the city, where for the first time, every borough saw a drop in chain store locations. Queens saw the biggest pullback, that of 4.9 percent, and was followed by Brooklyn (-4 percent), the Bronx (-3.8 percent), Manhattan (-3.1 percent), and Staten Island (-2.4 percent).
Of the retailers, clothing, shoe, and other accessory stores were the hardest hit, bolstering the theory that more people are shopping online. Plus-size clothing merchant Avenue lost six store locations in the city this year. It was followed by Dress Barn and Charlotte Russe, a retailer that targets women in the teens and twenties, who each closed four locations.
By comparison, several coffee and beverage companies, notably Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks, grew their business in the city. Dunkin’ Donuts, which for the eleventh straight year was the largest national retailer in New York City, expanded to 636 locations from 624 last year. Starbucks had 351 locations, up from 327 last year. The Seattle-based coffee company holds the distinction of being the biggest national retailer in Manhattan.
And while some New Yorkers have been dismayed by the gradual disappearance of Duane Reades, the report noted that Walgreens, which owns the chain, now has 317 locations, up from 263 last year. Of that number, roughly 91 locations are Duane Reades, according to the company's map locator. Still, the total number of Walgreens is down compared to 2015, when the drugstore behemoth had 307 locations.
Not surprisingly, its competitor Rite Aid was the chain that downsized the most in New York City, to 119 locations from 177 last year, and down significantly from its peak of 209 in 2008.
Bowles said taken together, the patterns show that many of the challenges threatening the survival of small independent businesses are now affecting national retailers.
"There was a time not so long ago where I did think we were going to see year and after year growth in chain stores," he said. "I didn’t think anything was going to slow this down."
Danny Lewis contributing reporting to this story.
UPDATE: The previous headline inaccurately said that national chain stores now had the smallest footprint in more than a decade. Rather, it was the largest decline.
Tagged
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retail crisis
retail chain
Elizabeth Kim
Elizabeth Kim is a reporter on the People and Power desk who covers mayoral power. She previously covered the pandemic, housing, redevelopment and public spaces. A native of Queens, she speaks fluent Mandarin. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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