Chain Stores Booming In Brooklyn: Report

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — Chain stores are on the rise in New York City and nowhere more so than Brooklyn, according to a new report.

Brooklyn saw the biggest jump in national retailers of all the boroughs in 2017, according to State of the Chains, an annual report from the Center For An Urban Future.

“Brooklyn has been slowly eroding Manhattan’s share of the city’s national retailers,” the report said.

Brooklyn saw a 3 percent jump in the number of chain stores — three times the growth in Queens and Manhattan and more than twice the city average — from 1,540 in 2016 to 1,587 in 2017, the report said.

Manhattan still has about 1,200 more chain stores than Brooklyn (2,734 in total), but the percentage of chain stores located in Manhattan dropped 2 percent in 2017 as Brooklyn’s share rose 2 percent.

Researchers pointed to MetroPCS — which became the second largest national retailer in New York City last year — as an example of the move toward Brooklyn.

The cell phone company now has 138 stores in Brooklyn — 27 of which opened last year — but only 66 in Manhattan.

MetroPCS is one of the five top chain stores taking up real estate in Brooklyn. Dunkin’ Donuts came in first with 139 coffee shops, MetroPCS was second with 138 cell phone stores, then Subway with 91 sandwich spots, T-Mobile with 65 cell phone stores and Baskin-Robbins with 54 ice creameries.

The largest number of chain stores in Brooklyn are located in Brooklyn Heights and downtown Brooklyn, where researchers found 145 stores, up from 138 in 2016.

The number of national retail outlets also jumped in Williamsburg, from 7 in 2016 to 10 in 2017, and in Flatbush, from 40 to 45. according to the report.

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