Many people think New York has “a Starbucks on every corner,” but in reality, another national coffee chain has been brewing up a storm across the city for the past decade.
For the tenth straight year, Dunkin Donuts has topped the Center for an Urban Future’s (CUF) annual “State of the Chains” report, which tracks the number of national retailers in New York City.
Dunkin Donuts currently operates 612 stores, which is a net increase of 16 stores since last year and 271 since 2008, the CUF said.
Nipping at its heels is MetroPCS, which added 119 locations within the past year to now operate 445 locations, bypassing Subway, which ranks third with 433 locations.
2017 was the ninth consecutive year New York saw an increase in national retailers, with 296 chains upped their footprint with a total of 94 stores, the CUF said.
The agency found that food establishments continue to see the strongest growth, with a 41 percent increase over the past decade, but businesses that are in direct competition with online retailers, such as shoe and electronic stores, “have experienced significant contractions.”
“Overall, a fifth of all national retailers in the city closed stores in the past year, and only one in seven retailers on our list increased their footprint,” the CUF said, adding this was the smallest share in its 10 years of tracking such data.
While Manhattan continues to house the biggest share of national retailers, the chains saw the most growth in Brooklyn, with a 3.1 percent increase. In Staten Island, however, national retailers declined by 1.9 percent.
National chains that grew in 2017 in NYC
• MetroPCS: 445 locations, up from 326 last year and seven 7 locations in 2009
• Dunkin Donuts: 612 locations, up from 596 in 2016 and 341 in 2008
• T-Mobile: 236 locations, up from 223 in 2016 and 82 in 2008
• Crumbs Bake Shop: 22 locations, up from 10 in 2016 and 2008
• Children’s Place: 38 locations, up from 30 in 2016 and 21 in 2008
• Pret a Manger: 50 locations, up from 42 in 2015 and 15 in 2008
National chains that decrased in 2017 in NYC
• Duane Reade/Walgreens: 260 locations, down from 303 in 2016 and 264 in 2008
• RadioShack: 3 locations, down from 35 in 2016 and 116 in 2008
• Payless: 74 locations, down from 95 in 2016 and 109 in 2008
• Hale and Hearty Soups: 23 locations, down from 31 in 2016 and 20 in 2008
