From the Times Ledger:
Chain stores in Queens grew at half the rate of last year, a report released Monday showed, though their effect on the borough is not always positive, according to business experts.
“State of the Chains 2012” is an annual report published by the Center for an Urban Future, a Manhattan-based nonprofit, and showed that the city as a whole added 2.4 percent more chain stores this year, while the stores in Queens grew at a slower rate of 2.1 percent.
Seth Bornstein, executive director of the Queens Economic Development Corporation, said chains can add a value to the business landscape of the borough, but having too many of them can create a drag on the economy.
Queens boasts the second-highest number of chain stores in the city — Dunkin’ Donuts has set up more franchises in the borough than in any other — but this year ranked behind the Bronx, Manhattan and Brooklyn in its growth rate. State Island actually lost chain stores over the last year.
The growth rate in Queens is about half of what it was in 2010 and 2011, when the borough saw a 5.4 percent increase in chains.
Heading into 2012, Queens had 1,624 of the businesses, with Dunkin’ Donuts and Subway leading the way. By the end of the year, 34 more stores had opened up shop.
“An overabundance of chain stores can attack an area’s retail fabric, usually by causing rent increases that make it impossible for small, independent businesses to thrive. This can lead to fewer unique services and products and really change a neighborhood’s character,” [Bornstein] said.
15 comments:
Why are people from India so involved in owning and running Dunkin Donuts franchises?
Many of these "chain stores" are owned by individuals and NOT by the parent company.
The owners are regular people who pay a lot of money to buy into a franchise.
Why do local politicians create the perception that these stores are bad for the city?
I'll continue to support any store that can offer the best quality at the most competitive price.
I'd rather eat in one of the Flushing chain stores
(i.e. Mc Donalds) than brave a meal of mystery meat in one of those dicey Chinese emporiums.
At least there's a higher degree of quality control
and cleanliness.
In many ghetto nabes throughout NYC, these are the only places that are guaranteed to be cleaner and safer!
That "Dunky D" looks a lot snappier than what we can see of that shabby looking building to the left of it in this photo.
Dunkin Donuts, Subway and other franchise stores should be welcomed by every Queens community:
1. The franchisee is a entrepreneur and assumes all the business risks and rewards. He or she hires people who might otherwise be unemployed.
2. The franchiser picks up the marketing and product development and enforces quality, cleanliness, and productivity on each franchisee.
3. The community gets inexpensive, competitive products with a national (i.e. American) menu.
Even though the stores look clean:
1. Fat-fried and overly-sugared donuts are not good for your health.
2. The coffee is served in styrofoam containers. You can taste the styrofoam after the coffee cools a bit. Dunkin Donuts should switch to paper-based containers.
the paper containers when wet crush in your hand.
the DD competitors are too expensive for me.
i have used DD since they opened in the tri-state area. i have no problems with their capitalist endeavor.
an efficient business should be appreciated by consumers.
I'm not talkin' Starbuck's with their high prices. You can get great tasting coffee in the convenience stores at the gas stations: Green Mountain coffee in...paper-based containers that do not, when wet, "crush" in your hand. And no Dunkin Donut styrofoam coffee cup taste either. BTW part of gustatory pleasure is the visual. Drinking or eating anything out of styrofoam, yecch.
The funny thing is that DD watery coffee is just as expensive as SBucks coffee. A 16 oz coffee as SBucks costs $2.40 after tax. What's a 14 oz coffee at DD? About $2.20 or so? People say it's more expensive without actually knowing the prices. They think a coffee is $5 because a frappuccino is $5.
DD donuts turned to shit over the years. And 9 out of 10 people will refer to donuts as "baked" or "fresh out of the oven".
A paper cup will not "crush in your hand" unless you are reusing it. I've been drinking out of paper cups for years and never had this problem. If it is really a problem for you, just ask for a double cup.
BTW that looks like the DD on Clintonville St in Whitestone, and if it is, years ago they used to make the donuts fresh in that shabby building next door every morning. Now they most likely get trucked in from who knows where.
I know of one DD location that gets cases of frozen donuts that are thawed and freshly glazed, iced, and/or filled. Sometimes, people really do not know what they are buying.
http://www.belshaw-adamatic.com/products/BX-convection-ovens/BX-convection-ovens.html
"Designed for high-quality Quick Service and packed with high end features, BX Ovens are now installed in more than 1,000 Dunkin Donuts® locations"
At least it's not one of those Chinese take out places.
I once saw the grease being drained from the deep fry cooker that egg rolls, etc. come out of.
When they got down to the dregs, the oil was brownish-black!
Yeccch!
you people love eating crap,that's why they keep coming into Queens.
America eats crap!
Queens doesn't have an exclusive on ingesting junk food.
But they keep on eating plenty of crap from their pols.
LOL! Seth Bornstein....that tired left over hack from Shulman's days as beep. He is now just waking up from a nap? It is Dem Clubhouse borgiose like him that "inspire" us all. Queens is what it is, the laughing stock of New York ,with assholes like Seth holding these kind of patronage jobs. Talent does not matter. How many years you have given to the machine, kissing Crowley's ass does. I meant Joe. I would've mind doing for Liz.
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