Chain store growth is slowing around the Big Apple — except in Brooklyn and Staten Island. The number of New York City chain retail store locations increased only 0.5 percent from 2012 to 2013, according to the Center for an Urban Future’s fifth annual “state of the chains” report — the smallest year-over-year increase citywide since the report was first conducted in 2008.
In certain pockets, however, the trend was quite different. Brooklyn saw a 2.8 percent growth in chain stores, up from 2.6 percent the previous year. A total of 1,511 chain stores are now in place in the borough, compared to last year’s 1,470 — the second straight year of hefty growth in Brooklyn. Staten Island also saw a 1.7 percent lift, a flip from the previous year’s 0.7 percent decline.
The fastest growing chain retailers in the city are led by Dunkin Donuts, which now has 515 New York City locales. Hot on the downmarket coffee shop’s heels are Subway with 467 stores, Duane Reade/Walgreens with 318 and Starbucks with 283. Starbucks is Manhattan’s most prominent chain, with 212 outlets on on the island. [Capital New York] — Julie Strickland