27 November 2007

Thin The Herd

The Daily News has a story about a clandestine Brooklyn real estate roundtable meeting which revealed that retail giants such as Starbucks, Duane Reade and Chase Bank are planning to double and in some cases triple their presence in Brooklyn. Muhahahaha!

From The Daily News:

"Chains, chains, chains...

If you like your morning coffee in a venti cup, you'll be able to grab one at some 75 more Brooklyn Starbucks locations in the next three years.

But if you're a mom and pop shop in Brooklyn: Beware.

"Brooklyn has been underretailed for a very long time," said David Kramer, who was one of the organizers of the roundtable at the Brooklyn Historical Society earlier this month.

"What's happening now is that practically every week there is new story about a different high-profile retailer coming to Brooklyn," he said, while insisting that "the majority of the retail space [in Brooklyn] continues to be mom-and-pop stores."
This, from Gothamist:
“Brooklyn (which currently only has a smattering of the Seattle-based beanery) can expect 75 more Starbucks in the next three years, 20 more Chase banks (there are currently 46) and Duane Reade will double it's dosage with an expected 60 stores total in the next three years.

Will the borough open up and say "ahhh" to expensive specialty coffee drinkacinnos, or stick to their mom and pop shop? The Daily News reports that "If you're sipping a $4 latte from Starbucks, chances are everything's rosy...analysts say if you got your cup of joe for 75 cents from the guy on the corner, times are likely hard - and New Yorkers seem to back them up."

The company does say it's looking at areas with "good income demographics."

Read more about the good and the bad of the 'Bucks, and The Times article on a more corporate Brooklyn.”
I suppose I can't argue with grids, stats and charts which may say otherwise but I certainly don't feel as if Brooklyn is “underretailed” or “void of discarded Venti cups” at all. Honestly, I've no idea where they'd even hide another 75 Starbucks, 30 Duane Reades or 20 Chase Banks. Do we even have the space for it? Will they start knocking down the condos to make way for the banks?

Oh, Mr. Orwell where are you now?

I still remember when 86th Street in Bay Ridge got Roy Rogers; it was like the end of the world as we know it. Then came Blockbuster and Mc Donalds and the erosion began. This was over a dozen years ago though so don't talk to me about Brooklyn being
underretailed”... I dunno where've you been livin, mofo!

I'd love to see the new chains bulldoze the old chains; now that would be some serious sign o' the times / conglomerate apocalypse shit.

I'd like to see 10 new Starbucks come in and raze ten 99¢ stores. I'd like to see the 24-Hour Duane Reade hammer come down and crush 15 nail salons; thin the herd a bit; fight fire with fire.

As far as banks go Commerce seems to be the one sowing the most seeds in our fair town by far and I never feel like I'm all that far from a Starbucks no matter which borough I'm in.

It's odd to hear Starbucks with such colossal plans for Brooklyn even as their stock has shit the bed as of late due primarily to over saturation of the market place. You might not wanna walk a block or two for your grande soy whateverthefuck but for the benefit of their company, really you should be forced to excercise a lil' brand loyalty and not just brand convenience.

Starbucks has about 10,500 locations in the U.S. which is about 3,000 more than it did just 2 years ago.

The concern in business land is that Starbucks has been adding locations so quickly that the new stores are cannibalising the old ones to the point where the chain can't increase its same-store sales at the rapid pace to which investors have grown accustomed. In the past year, shares of Starbucks have fallen about 37%.

And now they wanna build 75 more locations in Brooklyn alone?

Where the fuck are you gonna put them, mofo?

Related:
Starbucks and other chain brands expanding presence in Brooklyn {Daily News}
Overkill {um, Gotham City Insider}
At Starbucks, Too Many, Too Quick? {Wall Street Journal}
Chains Check Out Brooklyn {Gothamist}

Starbucks Related:
Confessions of a komplete coffee hypocrite
Coffee as an accessory; the coffee cult of personality
Status Symbols: Shopping and Schlepping
The $17 Blank T-Shirt Cult
Well, who did you think Starbucks stole the idea from?

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