Fort Greene And Clinton Hill Barely Rank In New Report Tallying National Chain Stores In NYC

Brooklynites love to patronize their homegrown businesses. And indeed, it’s often the mom-and-pop shops that give a neighborhood its character. However, over the last decade, mega franchises like McDonald’s, Walgreens, and Dunkin Donuts have ramped up their presence in the borough, and throughout the city, according to research from the Center for an Urban Future.

Fortunately for us, according to the center’s latest edition of their annual State of the Chains report, Clinton Hill ranks near the bottom of the list of Brooklyn neighborhoods with national franchises, with only 17 national chains present in 2015 — up only one from 16 open in 2014. Fort Greene doesn’t even make the list!

The report notes that the number of franchises in zip code 11205 went up just 6 percent.

Downtown Brooklyn also fares pretty well, with only two national chains (it doesn’t say what they are, but possibly Starbucks and Hale and Hearty?) listed.

As reader Giuseppe G noted in the comments, however, this surprising ranking can be explained by the fact that “Downtown Brooklyn is in the 11201 zip code along with Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO, which is listed solely as “Brooklyn Heights” and which tops the list at 146 chains.”

Meanwhile the zip code covering Marine Park, Flatlands, Bergen Beach, and Mill Basin, came in second in Brooklyn and sixth in New York City for having the most name-brand stores. The report notes that the Kings Plaza shopping center is located in that zip code.

Overall, Brooklyn experienced a 2.6 percent increase this year in the number of name brands occupying storefronts, outpacing every other borough except the Bronx. However, the pace of national chains moving into Brooklyn is slowing compared to the years before — growth was 3.3 percent last year and 2.8 percent the year before.

And Brooklyn still has ways to go to catch up to Manhattan, which at 2,804 national retailers dwarves Brooklyn’s 1,600 stores.

Some of the chains moving most aggressively this year to snap up spots in Brooklyn are Sprint (from 5 in 2014 to 25 in 2015), Dunkin Donuts (from 125 in 2014 to 135 in 2015), and Metro PCS (from 107 in 2014 to 117 in 2015).

A few big brands also appear to be pulling out of the borough, including Radio Shack, Bally Total Fitness, and McDonald’s, the report found.