Chain Stores Change Face of Broadway

For Morningside Heights and Manhattan Valley residents, finding a Starbucks isn’t the problem. It’s deciding which Starbucks to go to. And the decision just got harder: a new Starbucks opened this month at 103rd Street and Broadway, bringing the total number of Starbucks stores between 96th and 116th Streets to four.

As local businesses see rent increases and are forced to move out, chain stores and eateries are filling up storefronts, altering the neighborhood’s character, and endangering longtime establishments, residents said.

“The chains are making life here more crowded,” said Shawn Ford, a longtime Manhattan Valley resident and customer at the Lucky Star convenience store.

“Everything’s becoming so generic.”

Between 96th and 116th Street on Broadway, there are also four Duane Reades, three Rite Aids, three Subways, two Sleepy’s, two RadioShacks, three Bank of America locations, two Chase banks, and two Washington Mutual branches.

Mike Mbengue, owner of the Lucky Star convenience store on 101st Street and Broadway, said he has noticed that the influx of chains is taking the biggest toll on larger local businesses.

“The Duane Reade seems to have affected everyone else,” he said. “My place is still small, so my rent is low. I can keep my prices low and still keep my customers. The three stores across the street have been closed down for almost two years now. The price they were charging was just too high.”

However, Jack McBean, an employee of RiteAid at 109th Street and Broadway, said the benefits that chains provide to customers outweigh any negative effects that such stores have on local businesses.

“This place [RiteAid] is open 24 hours a day,” he said. “This community never sleeps, and likewise, this store never sleeps. This is also a schooling community, and RiteAid provides jobs for students who need part-time and night work. They can go back to school during the day and work at night.”

Storeowners have tried to create a niche market that sets their small shops apart from the larger chains in the area. Iqbal Rayani, owner of Rafi Convenience, also at 101st Street and Broadway, sells a wide variety of international newspapers, ranging from Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung to India Today. Ahmed Mohammad, owner of Ruby Fragrance, covers each of the walls in his store with shelves of perfume in an attempt to stock every possible fragrance available.

“You can tell just by looking how much variety I carry,” said Mohammad, whose shop has been in the neighborhood for the last 12 years. “I carry full lines. I don’t need to check up on what RiteAid or any other store is doing. I upgrade my business all the time.”

The major draw for local residents, however, is the relationships they form with storeowners and other patrons, Ford said. “The reason Mike [Mbengue] survives Duane Reade is that we keep coming back to see him,” she said. “This is the neighborhood corner store, where you run to if you need something last minute. You don’t get upset by the wait.”

This neighborhood loyalty has helped save other businesses in the past. When in 2000, a CVS pharmacy moved in two blocks away from 25 year-old Suba Pharmacy at Broadway at 104th Street, residents mobilized to save the longtime business. The Westsiders for Viable Neighborhoods, a community group, encouraged residents to boycott the CVS, resulting in the CVS’ subsequent closing in 2002.

“Everyone on this block owes Mr. Suba their sanity,” longtime Suba Pharmacy patron Jill Schultz said. “I remember when the kids were really sick. I was up all night, and I hadn’t slept. Mr. Suba not only gave me advice but also delivered the medicine. We all remember that.”

“We are here for each other,” said Vishesh Suba, owner of Suba Pharmacy. “This is how it is. I like to do service, and they pay me back.”

As for the welfare of local business owners, McBean said he is not too concerned.
“Tell them not to worry,” he said. “Everybody’s going to make it. It’s business as usual.”

The reporter of this article can be reached at news@columbiaspectator.com