The number of national retail locations in Queens increased slightly this year and the retailers that added the most significant presence to the borough were Dollar Tree and CVS, according to a new report.
Center for an Urban Future released their Ninth Annual State of the Chains report on Dec. 8, which found that national retail locations in the borough increased by 1.6 percent from 1,643 locations in 2015 to 1,670 stores this year.
Queens has the second highest number of chains next to Manhattan but has experienced a downturn since 2014, when the number of chains grew 5.3 percent.
Dollar Tree, which had no locations in Queens last year, opened 17 new locations in the borough. There are now stores in Queens Village, Sunnyside, Woodside, Flushing, Middle Village and more. The chain sells house, office and other supplies for cheap.
CVS opened 16 stores city-wide this year and 13 of those locations were in Queens alone. Other chains that expanded include Dunkin Donuts with eight new locations, Subway added three locations and Starbucks and Family Dollar opened four new locations each.
McDonald’s closed five locations in the borough while Rite Aid and Duane Reade/Walgreens closed one location each.
Zip code 11373 in Corona and Elmhurst has the highest number of chain stores in Queens, which is not surprising since Queens Center mall is located there.
Forest Hills has the second highest amount of retailers in the borough with 86 and the Ridgewood/Glendale area comes in third with 85 chain stores.
Neighborhoods with the lowest amount of chain stores in the borough include Far Rockaway/Broad Channel with eight chain stores, Cambria Heights with seven and zip code 11363 in Little Neck with three chain stores.
Check out the full report here.
