Store Closings Plague South Harlem

On Frederick Douglas Boulevard from 111th to 125th Streets, the high density of retail vacancy reminds passers-by that the gentrification of South Harlem has not made the neighborhood immune to the pains of recession.

While closed-down storefronts are becoming increasingly common throughout the city as landlords demand rent that tenants cannot pay, South Harlem is an especially grim site.

“So many stores are closing down, customers aren’t going to come here. With so few stores around here, there is no point,” Saif Almari, manager of The Wise 99-Cent Plus Discount Store on 114th Street, said. Almari’s shop is surrounded by more than ten vacant storefronts within a five-block radius.

“It is hard to run a business when you are paying $4,000 for rent, $7,000 for labor and $1400 for electricity. Nothing here is 99 cents anymore,” he added, as a customer who refused to pay $1.25 for a Dutch Master left the store.

In some cases, landlords who can stomach the vacancy are unwilling to lower rent prices.

“It [vacancy] is not a financial burden. I own the whole building and have tenants paying rent. I could rent it out tomorrow if we wanted to be flexible and lower the price. But there is no need,” Harut Saganda, owner of an empty retail space on 120th Street, said.

“In this business, you can’t rent out to stores that don’t have financial background,” Saganda added. “We are not going to offer a lease to a startup business. They need to prove that they will be able to survive.”

Yet the area’s business outlook is not completely without hope. Oren Elrich, the exclusive broker from Winick Realty for 2195 8th Ave., said that he is “currently negotiating the lease. An upscale supermarket is moving in.” Elrich said it should open within six months.

On the west side of this street, between 118th and 119th Streets, a bank and a Starbucks are the only operating businesses. One block north, the entire street is vacant.

“It is not an easy market, but it wasn’t that hard with this space. With 24,000 square feet, it just takes time,” Elrich said. The space was put on the market only eight months ago in a building constructed in 2007.

“It is going to bring people from all over,” Elrich said. “Visually, it is going to look nicer.”

Some noted that South Harlem is up-and-coming, despite its current decline in retail development. “My grandma has lived here 22 years, and the neighborhood has gotten much better for her,” resident Christina Estrada said. “Anyway, I do most of my shopping downtown or on 125th.”

Yet others described Harlem’s ongoing transition as now falling into decline. As she visited her mother who lives in South Harlem, Shana Frost said, “First there was not much here, but then we saw an influx of all these great places. We come back now, and it has come full circle, with shops closed down everywhere.”

Bryan Williams, manager of Prudential Real Estate on 117th Street and 8th Avenue, said, “Nothing was solidified in this neighborhood before the downturn. Now, the neighborhood is just set back a year or two.”

Some were even less optimistic. Charles Pierre, an employee at MetroPCS—which opened less than a month ago—said, “People come here and they have to weigh the profit with the rent in this neighborhood. It is just not a place to open a business.”

Erlich predicted that a turnaround will come in around a year and a half, saying, “Once the market is up, it will change a lot.” Many locals feel that the increasing diversity of Harlem residents, culturally and financially, will also eventually recharge the retail scene.

Saganda explained, “A lot of people are downgrading, moving from other neighborhoods to here where it is cheaper. There will be a lot more residents.”

And, as Rasheed Cissé, a server at Boulangerie Patisserie Café, pointed out, “People must come in first, then business.”

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