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Giancarli, Alfred/Freelance, NYDN
An Art-deco Starbucks in the Parkchester neighborhood of the Bronx. According to a new report, no new Starbucks opened in the Bronx in 2012, though four Dunkin Donuts did.
It’s the invasion of the chain gang.
Corporate franchises have increased their presence throughout the boroughs for the sixth year running, with the largest increases occurring in Brooklyn and the Bronx, according to a New York-based think tank.
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Brooklyn recorded 1,511 logo-emblazoned stores this year, a 2.8% bump over last year, according to the Center for an Urban Future, which started quantifying the chains’ infiltration of New York City in 2008.
The most prevalent names were — predictably — Dunkin’ Donuts, Subway, 7-Eleven and (surprise!) Starbucks.
Courtesy Center for an Urban Future
Brooklyn and the Bronx had the greatest increase of chain stores in 2012, a report states.
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The Bronx — where 863 chain stores are in operation, a net gain of 14, or 1.6% over last year — has also arrived as a corporate destination, as has Staten Island, where 420 stores amounted to a 1.7% jump.
Jonathan Bowles, the executive director of the Center for an Urban Future, chalked up much of the growth to Brooklyn’s improved fortunes.
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“There has been so much wealth going into Brooklyn,” he said. “And national chains are finally catching up to the demographics.”
Goldfield, Ken, Freelance NYDN
McDonald’s located at Southern Blvd in the Bronx.
Manhattan (2,779 stores) and Queens (1,653) actually saw a decrease in chains, falling 0.7% and 0.4%, respectively, but they still counted the city’s highest and second-highest numbers of the stores, respectively.
Surprisingly, it is Dunkin’ Donuts — not Starbucks or Subway — that charted the biggest expansion across the five boroughs. The Massachusetts-based belly bulger now counts 515 stores in operation across the Big Apple, up from 476 in 2012.
The donut chain didn’t immediately return a request for comment on its rapid-fire expansion.
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For Bowles, the growth in chains isn’t a problem — yet.
“I think New York would be in big trouble if there was no longer a place for independent business,” he said. “I don’t know if we’re there yet, but the scales are tipping.”
