By Eric Jankiewicz
Woodhaven’s shopping area has 99 problems.
The neighborhood’s commercial district, which runs along Jamaica Avenue, is oversaturated with 99-cent stores, according to residents. They compare the discount stores to weeds that kill off other businesses and leave the local economy in the dirt.
“Who’s coming to our neighborhood now? People aren’t going to come out for 99-cent stores,” said Ed Wendell, president of the Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association. “It’s a constant stream of useless stores. And when good businesses keep closing, the first reaction is we’re going to get another 99-cent store. And they’re probably right.”
Commerce on Woodhaven’s Jamaica Avenue is in a decade-long decline that has affected the economy and given rise to what Wendell calls redundant businesses – 99-cent stores and delis.
On April 19, concerned residents and the block association held a meeting with the Jamaica Avenue Business Improvement District, a local government body responsible for promoting the neighborhood’s economy. Residents urged Maria Thomson, the executive director of the BID, to do more to stir business interest on Jamaica Avenue between Dexter Court and 100th Street and to stop the 99-cent store trend.
Aside from an increase in discount stores, residents also noted that many closed businesses remain vacant for a long time, creating empty lots that hurt the neighborhood. The combination of the problems leads to people shopping in other neighborhoods, resulting in a loss to the local economy.
“If something is going to be done, then we’re going to need to see innovative ideas from the BID,” said Alexander Blenkinsopp, a member of the block association. “Maria has worked hard at this for a very long time, but there’s no question that the task ahead is a very difficult one. And it’s not clear how much progress we’re making.”
During the meeting with Thomson, residents suggested solutions that included increasing the web presence of the BID and spending more money on marketing Jamaica Avenue to potential business owners.
“It’s unfortunate we have a lot of 99-cent stores and delis,” Thomson said. According to her count, there are more than a dozen redundant businesses in the shopping district. At 25 blocks and more than 300 stores, the Jamaica Avenue shopping district is one of the biggest in the city, Thomson said. And, she added, the Jamaica Avenue BID’s budget of $218,000 is one of the smallest.
“I’m frustrated by seeing the same stores over and over again,” she said. “I think that it’s a phase. And we can’t do anything about it.”
Several 99-cent store owners on the strip were reluctant to discuss the issue and said they did not want to talk about the criticism from the BID.
But deli store workers contended that if there were too many stores of the same kind, they would be losing money.
Alex Alryashi lives in Woodhaven and is part of a network of brothers and other relatives who own delis across Glendale and Woodhaven. Alex’s brother, Ammar, has run a deli on 87th Street and Jamaica Avenue since 2009, when the store first opened. The area has a high concentration of similar stores. Between 90th Street and 85th Street there are at least seven delis and eight 99-cent stores.
“When we open delis we try to find places that are very far from other delis,” Alryashi, who runs a deli called Sam’s in Glendale, said. “But now we’re seeing more delis opening so close to us. It doesn’t make sense to us.”
He continued, “Business is still good, but we’re losing some money. Eventually some delis will close and hopefully we’re not one of them.”
Redundant businesses are not a new phenomenon for Woodhaven, according to Thomson.
She has lived in the neighborhood for 47 years and is a founding member of the BID, which is 24 years old. She remembers that the neighborhood used to be swamped with gift shops, which gave way to photo development stores, which gave way to nail stores. The most recent increase in delis and discount stores is just one of these phases, she said.
But other residents are less stoic about the problem and want to see Thomson’s organization adapt to the problem.
“There is frustration. We respect what Maria has done in the past. But now a new approach is needed,” Blenkinsopp said. “And Maria should use the many smart, eager personalities in our neighborhood to help make Jamaica Avenue better.”
