Dunkin' Donuts: the Starbucks of Brooklyn
“Despite an influx of hipsters and Manhattanites, moderately priced chain stores outnumber the hoity-toity multi-outlets in Brooklyn,” reports the Daily News, basing their assertions on a study released by the Center for an Urban Future earlier this year. We have 1,203 chains in Brooklyn, but many are on the moderate side. There are 89 Dunkin’…
“Despite an influx of hipsters and Manhattanites, moderately priced chain stores outnumber the hoity-toity multi-outlets in Brooklyn,” reports the Daily News, basing their assertions on a study released by the Center for an Urban Future earlier this year. We have 1,203 chains in Brooklyn, but many are on the moderate side. There are 89 Dunkin’ Donuts in Brooklyn, as compared to only 18 Starbucks, and Brooklyn has more 7-Elevens than any other borough. We also score high in Payless, Jimmy Jazz and Golden Krust stores, and low in Sephora, Pottery Barn and Coach.
Brooklyn Sweeter on Dunkin’ Donuts than Starbucks [NY Daily News]
Dunkin’ Donuts at Night. Photo by lab2112.
There used to be a Gap on Montague across from Haagan Daaz, near Henry St. I haven’t been over there in a long time, so it wouldn’t surprise me to find out neither one is there anymore.
I know Manhattan has highbrow and lowbrow nabes. My comments refer to a general midtown feeling, I suppose, although it extends to the Upper East and West Sides. When I came to NY in ’77, the Upper West Side was more like Clinton Hill. I would not like Clinton Hill to ever become like today’s Upper West Side.
I’m talking about an undefinable, indescribable combination of neighborhood, open spaces, mix of people, incomes, interests, architecture, etc.
surprised me too dittoburg. But- and I choke to admit it- MickeyD’s has a decent cup of coffee. And easy to find in my neighborhood :-).
I kid around about having a Starbucks here but truthfully I find their coffee too bitter, not to mention overpriced. So we know what’s good coffee. We now need a swill contest, rating all the bad ones on a scale of -25 to +10.
Rehab;
I know of at least one GAP in Brooklyn. it is located on the corner of 86th Street and 21st Ave. in Bensonhurst. You can take the “D” train right there (Bay Parkway stop).
DD should be prosecuted under the Trade Descriptions Act for calling what they sell coffee. If I’m stuck in a neighborhood where theres no local decent coffeehouse a trip to McDonalds ensues. Its suprisingly not bad, it has even done well in blind taste tests. I think it must be the beans. Only Mcds tho, no other fastfood place comes near.
And the continued success of Applebees continues to amaze me. Its not even cheap. It’s so easy to make money in this country with a crap product. Either that or a new TV-based pay-as-you-go religion.
This is not surprising at all. What is surprising is how Dunkin Donuts pulled off the amazing public-relations coup of getting people to discuss their coffee as comparable to Starbucks in the first place. DD coffee is the same watery dreck they pour at any fast-food joint, made from pre-ground, canned, Folgers-quality beans. And their specialty drinks, unlike Starbucks, are made with artificial flavors.
Another fact I find surprising, here in retail-challenged Brooklyn: Yesterday, I wanted to go buy a $12 t-shirt, and hit up the store locator for The Gap. There isn’t one anywhere in the whole borough. And The Gap–while a little more upmarket than Jimmy Jazz, I guess–is not exactly Gucci.
z- indeed you’re right. I guess the issue for me is defined by the changes in my old neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights and downtown Brooklyn. Believe me I don’t hate Manhattan- I love, as you said, “the quiet streets and independent shops of the west village or the scrappy, still-gritty lower east side.”
My fear is that they are also rapidly disappearing. between that rampant overdevelopment rush, the attempt to impose fees to drive into Manhattan and the outrageous prices, sometimes I think Bloomberg thinks of Manhattan as a gated community with great marketing potential as a theme park. From my point of view- and economic level- that’s just how I see it.
“Despite an influx of hipsters and Manhattanites, moderately priced chain stores outnumber the hoity-toity multi-outlets in Brooklyn,”
This is news?
i agree with the general sentiment that it would be unfortunate if brooklyn were to become filled with chain stores. but i don’t understand the whole notion of brooklyn becoming ‘like manhattan.’ manhattan is a big place with a lot of very different neighborhoods. east village, west village, les, ues, midtown, downtown, harlem, hamilton heights — each neighborhood has its own character. i think when people talk of ‘manhattanization’ they are thinking of midtown and its chain-retail, office-space emphasis, and not about the quiet streets and independent shops of the west village or the scrappy, still-gritty lower east side. but i’m not really sure.
in any event, brooklyn is its own borough and no one — not even a billionaire mayor — has the power to force it to become something it doesn’t want to be.
i just didn’t really see the connection between your post and what the article was about…just seemed defensive about the identity of brooklyn as relaxed and lower-key when the presence of certain chain stores and the absence of certain others as discussed in the article seems to have little to do with that. thanks for clarifying, though.
i agree that a mixture of high and low is part of what makes brooklyn nice. frankly, i don’t think the current mix accurately reflects brooklyn’s demographics and would like to see a better mix that includes more of the “slightly upscale” like crate and barrel. (the lack of starbucks reflects a problem with its coffee, which is expensive and bad, and a bad business model, rather than the lack of an audience for the upscale in brooklyn.)