The Big Apple saw a record one in 7 nationally acknowledged chain-store branches close their doors this year as the pandemic sent consumers scurrying for cover, according to a brand-new report.
Some 1,132 store – — including 70 Duane Reades, 54 Starbucks, and 22 Papyruses – — have waved the white flag over the previous 12 months, according to the Center for an Urban Future’s yearly “State of the Chains” report, set to be & shy; launched Wednesday.
The 14.2 percent decline shatters all previous records reported by the nonprofit firm since it began tracking the data 13 years earlier. Last year, just 3.7 percent of all chain outlets closed, up from 0.3 percent in 2018.
“If the national chains are downsizing like this, I have to envision it’s twice as bad for mom-and-pop stores, who do not have the very same capability to weather a storm or get access to & shy; financing,” stated the center’s executive director, Jonathan Bowles.
Manhattan took in the inmost cuts with 546 chain closures – – & shy; almost half of the city total – — due to the borough’s dependence on office workers, travelers, and wealthy residents who have decamped to homes outside the city.
Midtown East, a swath that covers Rockefeller Center and Fifth Avenue approximately 60th Street, suffered the biggest blow with a 24 percent decrease in shops.
Among the hardest-hit sectors were sandwich shops that accommodate office workers, much of whom because March has been able to work from home, according to the report.
Dunkin’ Donuts remains the Big Apple’s greatest retail chain with 608 places, the report said. However, the popular chain also lost a record 28 stores, marking its very first year-over-year decrease.
Gyms and pharmacies likewise suffered as individuals worked out more in your home and increasingly relied on the Internet to buy basic requirements like toothpaste.
SoulCycle, owned by billionaire President Trump advocate Stephen Ross, has closed all 21 of its indoor & shy; facilities in the city – — through its Website uses spin classes at three outdoor areas, including a Tribeca roof.
Other popular chains to close a considerable variety of outlets include:
- Duane Reade/Walgreens, which closed 70 of 317 outlets.
- Starbucks: Closed 54 of 391 & shy; outlets.
- GNC: 51 of 99.
- Train restaurants: 48 of 287.
- MAC Cosmetics: 25 of 34.
- Le Pain Quotidien: 14 of 37.
- Victoria’s Secret: 10 of 23.
- Skechers: 8 of 15.
- Old Navy: 6 of 23.
- Shake Shack: 5 of 25.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom.
Some 40 chains in fact added places, led by Popeyes fried-chicken quick food, which included 10 locations.
And Bowles thinks there’s an opportunity that much of the food-sector decline is just short-lived, presuming a great deal of workers go back to their offices when the pandemic reduces.
The closures could also spark a brand-new generation of service owners looking to become big-brand franchisees.
“We are visiting a new age of entrepreneurship,” Bowles said. “Individuals who were fortunate enough not to have organizations at this time, and we likewise may see some chains go into different parts of the city that were not as hard hit as & shy; Manhattan.”
