Just five national chain-store brands expanded by more than 10 stores in the five boroughs in 2019, a year in which the number of such stores dropped by nearly 4%.
That year-over-year decline is the largest yet recorded by the Cent… for an Urban Future, a think tank that has been publishing a State of the Chains report on New York City since 2007. Of the 316 brands examined in the report, roughly a third shrunk their city portfolio.
While much of that has been driven in the past year by struggles for national retailers, the pain has spread for big-name brands. This was the first year that the Center for an Urban Future has tracked a decline in the number of food retail chains, according to Executive Director Jonathan Bowles.
That included big names such as Subway, which packed up its $5 foot-longs and closed 43 locations in the city this year. Even McDonald’s was not immune, shrinking its presence by three stores in the city.
Only five chains this year opened 10 or more locations. Duane Reade/Walgreens led all chains in expansion, with 54 new stores, to bring its total to 317 in New York. Starbucks opened 24 coffee shops from 2018 to 2019, to reach 351. AT&T brought its smartphone and other wireless services to 18 new locations this year, bringing its total to 136. CVS added 17 pharmacies in the Big Apple, bringing its total to 170. Dunkin’ Donuts, which leads all chains with 636 locations in New York, opened 12 shops this year.
Manhattan has the highest concentration of chain stores in the city, with 127 locations per square mile, according to the report. Brooklyn and the Bronx are tied for second, each with 24 chain stores per square mile. That’s followed by Queens, which has 14 per square mile, and Staten Island, which has eight per square mile.
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SOURCE: Section Page News – Crain’s New York Business – Read entire story here.