Harlem Lost More Chain Stores In 2022, Report Finds

HARLEM, NY — The last couple of years have been tough for Harlem's small businesses — and even chain stores are still being squeezed, according to a new report.

The "State of the Chains" report, released Wednesday by the Center for an Urban Future for the 15th year, studied the number of national chain retailers opening and closing across the five boroughs in 2022.

It found that the citywide number of chain stores inched up slightly over last year, rising by 0.3 percent — a fraction of last year's bigger jump of 2.7 percent. The number of chain stores is still well below pre-pandemic levels, with 782 fewer such shops than there were in late 2019.

But in Harlem, the number of chain locations dropped slightly this year, falling from 248 in 2021 to 246 as of November 2022.

Those figures are far below pre-pandemic 2019, when Harlem had a combined 282 chain stores, according to a previous year's study. As Patch reported at the time, the neighborhood lost around 40 chain stores during the pandemic's first year.

Here's the breakdown for each Harlem ZIP code:

• 10026: 16 chain locations in 2022 (16 in 2021)
• 10027: 84 chain locations in 2022 (82 in 2021)
• 10029: 52 chain locations in 2022 (52 in 2021)
• 10030: 9 chain locations in 2022 (11 in 2021)
• 10031: 33 chain locations in 2022 (31 in 2021)
• 10035: 32 chain locations in 2022 (37 in 2021)
• 10037: 6 chain locations in 2022 (6 in 2021)
• 10039: 14 chain locations in 2022 (13 in 2021)

Since before the pandemic, Manhattan's chain store losses have been "significantly greater than those of any other borough," the report found, citing the rise of remote work and the decline in office occupancy. The borough now has 14.4 percent fewer chain stores — 427 in total — than in 2019.

The rise of online shopping has also played a role in killing off chains citywide — the sectors with the biggest declines this year were all merchandisers, like electronics, games and toys, beauty salons, and pet supplies, according to the study.

Duane Reade has closed the most stores of any chain citywide this year, shuttering 22 locations. Other chains seeing big losses this year included Metro by T-Mobile, Subway, Pret A Manger, and 7-Eleven.

As for the national chain with the most total locations in the city: that honor falls once again to Dunkin' Donuts, which added five locations this year to reach a total of 620. (That's still less than its pre-pandemic total of 636.)

Starbucks, with 316 locations, placed second — its highest ranking in the 15-year history of the State of the Chains study.

Read the full 2022 "State of the Chains" report here.