These are the top chains on Staten Island now: Coffee, pharmacies, sandwiches and ice cream

New York’s Staten Island.This year saw a slight decrease in the number of chain businesses on Staten Island that sell food, medications, and merchandise, continuing a citywide pattern that has seen a gradual fall in chain merchants since before the pandemic.

It is evident from the Center for an Urban Future’s State of the Chains 2024 report, which was released this month, that the borough’s 1% decline in chain stores (from 489 to 484) is a part of a broader trend.

According to the report, which describes the citywide trend, this is the fifth time in the last seven years that there has been a net decline in the total number of chain stores, indicating that the environment for many national retailers is still difficult despite a robust recovery in storefronts in many of the city’s commercial districts.

This year, only 94 new stores were opened by 130 different brands across all five boroughs, with pharmacy and item merchants being the most affected. According to the survey, e-commerce competition is one of the main causes of this trend.

However, food chains continue to show potential; despite a few closures, they saw an overall 1.6% increase in growth.

For the first time this year, food chains account for more than half of all chain stores in our research: 4,036 out of 8,039, according to the report.

Staten Island s top chains

Despite the fact that food chains are becoming more prevalent throughout the city, Staten Island has less of the top 10 chains in the borough when measured by the total number of open locations than other boroughs.

The only businesses in the top 10 list for Staten Island are Dunkin’ (39 outlets), Subway (15 stores), Starbucks (15 stores), and Carvel (12 stores).

McDonald’s, which is in the top 10 for every other borough, is conspicuously absent from the list. Popeye’s is the city’s fastest-growing chain and ranks in the top 10 for the other outer boroughs.

With the exception of Manhattan, which has more Starbucks shops than any other city, Dunkin’s top billing is comparable to those of the other boroughs.

Completing the Staten Island chains’ top ten list:

• 
  CVS with 16 locations
  
• 
  Metro by T-Mobile with 12 locations
  
• 
  Duane Reade with nine locations
  
• 
  Verizon Wireless with nine locations
  
• 
  7-Eleven with nine locations
  
• 
  T-Mobile with eight locations
  

Six percent of the city’s retail chains are located on Staten Island.

A Hobby Lobby and an Aldi (with a second scheduled to come early in 2025) were among the new stores that opened on Staten Island in 2024, despite some losses, such as the closing of two CVS sites and a Subway.

Retailers showing the most change across the city since 2019

The survey claims that several of the stores that continue to rank in the top 10 on Staten Island, such as Subway and T-Mobile, have seen among of the biggest chain losses in the city in 2019.

• 
  Metro by T-Mobile (-229, from 468 in 2019 to 239 in 2024)
  
• 
  Duane Reade (-128, from 317 in 2019 to 189 in 2024)
  
• 
  T-Mobile (-89, from 245 in 2019 to 156 in 2024)
  
• 
  Subway (-85, from 287 in 2019 to 202 in 2024)
  
• 
  Rite Aid (-73, from 119 in 2019 to 46 in 2024)
  
• 
  GNC (-58, from 99 in 2019 to 41 in 2024)
  
• 
  7-Eleven (-45, from 141 in 2019 to 96 in 2024)
  
• 
  NY Sports Clubs (-37, from 53 in 2019 to 16 in 2024)
  
• 
  Baskin-Robbins (-36, from 217 in 2019 to 181 in 2024)
  
• 
  AT&T (-36, from 136 in 2019 to 100 in 2024)
  

The following merchants have opened the most stores in the city:

• 
  Popeye s (+52, from 105 in 2019 to 157 in 2023)
  
• 
  Taco Bell (+42, from 40 in 2019 to 82 in 2024
  
• 
  Chipotle Mexican Grill (+32, from 79 in 2019 to 111 in 2024)
  
• 
  Nathan s Famous (+31, from 11 in 2019 to 42 in 2024)
  
• 
  Wingstop (+30, from 10 in 2019 to 40 in 2024)
  
• 
  Pizza Hut (+27, from 14 in 2019 to 41 in 2024)
  
• 
  Jimmy Jazz/Snipes (+20, from 26 in 2019 to 46 in 2024)
  
• 
  Enterprise (+19, from 25 in 2019 to 44 in 2024)
  

Visit the website of The Center for an Urban Future to read the entire report.

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