By Howard Koplowitz
Dunkin' Donuts, the city's largest national retailer, has more locations in Queens than any other borough, according to a report released last week by the Center for an Urban Future.
The report was released to provide a backdrop to discussions on whether or not the city has become oversaturated with big box stores, said Jonathan Bowles, the director of the Center for An Urban Future.
“There's been so much talk over the last few months about the influx of national retailers and the impact it might be having on mom and pops,” he said.
While the report did not draw any conclusions, Bowles said he believed national chains have not oversaturated Queens, but there are “some areas where mom and pops have reason to be concerned.”
He said most of the chains are concentrated in few areas of the borough – Queens Center Mall, Bay Terrace Shopping Center, 82nd Street in Jackson Heights, parts of Flushing, Liberty Avenue in Richmond Hill and Steinway Street in Astoria.
“I think there's clearly room for more national retailers in Queens,” Bowles said.
Queens' 96 Dunkin' Donuts shops surpasses Brooklyn's 89 and the 78 in Manhattan. There are 49 in the Bronx and 29 on Staten Island.
Bowles said he was not surprised by those figures.
“It seems like there's a Dunkin' Donuts next to every subway station” in Queens, he said.
There are also more Baskin-Robbins in Queens — 70 — than anywhere else in the city, the report found. The ice cream franchise has 215 stores in the five boroughs, making it the city's sixth-largest retailer.
Two pharmacy chains — Rite Aid and CVS — maintain a strong presence in Queens, where both franchises have the most stores in the city. There are 68 Rite Aids — the city's seventh-largest retailer — in the borough and 209 citywide. CVS is the city's 11th-largest retailer with 108 stores and 34 in Queens.
Six of the top seven national chains in the city had more stores in Queens than they did in Brooklyn, the Bronx, or Staten Island.
The borough's second-largest chain after Dunkin' Donuts was Subway with 77 locations, the second-most of the five boroughs, according to the report. It has 335 sandwich shops in the city.
Queens residents have fewer options if they crave the fancier brew at Starbucks. Although the Seattle-based coffee company is the city's fourth-largest retailer with 235 stores, 186 of those are in Manhattan.
Only 21 are in Queens.
Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 173.
