Despite poor economy, nearly a third of top retailers expand in NYC

Thirty percent of top national retailers expanded their presence in New York City over the last year, according to an annual report released by the Center for an Urban Future today. The report, which tracks 277 retailers with two or more stores in the city, looks at data from July 2008 through July 2009.

In addition to the 30 percent of retailers that expanded despite the poor economy, 30 percent of the stores listed maintained the same number of locations they had in the five boroughs the year before.

“I would have thought a significant majority of chains would have contracted,” Jonathan Bowles, the center’s director said. “It’s no suprise that there’s a lot of national retailers in New York City — the biggest surprise is that a significant number of national chains expanded.”

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Bowles also noted that smaller chains — those that don’t take up a large amount of physical space — like McDonald’s, Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts fare better in the five boroughs than stores like Wal Mart. This accounts for the proliferation of locations among certain chains, Bowles said.

In fact, the report shows that 12 of the national retailers listed have over 100 or more locations across the city. Dunkin’ Donuts once again topped the list as the most prevalent national retailer in the five boroughs, with 429 locations — 68 more than Subway, which came in second place. TRD