[H]ow do you make rent off of $5, $10 or even $20 readings? It’s something we think about all the time in terms of restaurants and $8 eyebrow threading and $10 manicures. But those industries have visible, steady clientele. And with rents what they are — $418 per square foot in Lower Manhattan for retail space, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s most recent retail market report, which works out to approximately 21 readings at $20 for every single square foot in a space—the economics seem daunting. (Retail rents are much higher, of course, in other parts of the city.)
“The people they meet for $20 — that’s just an opening,” James Famularo, a senior director at Eastern Consolidated, told Commercial Observer. “Once in a while, they’ll hit a nerve. Some sucker will believe it, commission the reader [industry speak for astrologists, psychics, and crystal, energy, palm and tarot readers] as a life consultant and pay hundreds or thousands of dollars per month. They’re not doing it for a palm read — they’re looking for a well.”
Still, that seemed far-fetched in terms of a business plan. Or, at least, risky. And, anyway, all psychics are not created equal.
This is not a story about who is good at their practice or who is easily seduced (or who is interested in doing a reading “for research”). This is a story about who is good at bookkeeping. Whatever the math, readers appear to be a vanishing breed, at least in terms of new storefronts and new searches for visible space.
Each of the outer boroughs experienced marked increases in the number of national retail stores in 2016, while Manhattan saw its stronghold on national chains dip slightly from previous years ...
The study shows that Dunkin Donuts remained New York City’s largest national retailer with 596 stores city-wide and widened its lead over second place retailer, Subway, which has 433 locations. Dunkin Donuts now has 163 more stores than any other retailer in the city.
Dunkin Donuts topped our list for the eighth consecutive year as the largest national retailer in New York City, with a net increase of 24 stores compared to 2015. Subway is still the second largest national retailer in the city, but it has 12 fewer locations than last year. Rounding out the top ten national retailers in New York are MetroPCS (with 326 stores), Starbucks (317), Duane Reade/Walgreens (303), T-Mobile (223), Baskin-Robbins and McDonald’s (217 each), Rite Aid (185), and CVS (153). There are 12 retailers with more than 100 stores across the city, down from 13 last year.
For the eighth consecutive year, national chain stores have expanded its presence in the city, and despite a slight decrease of locations in Manhattan, chain retailers still have almost double the number of stores in Manhattan than in any other borough. Overall, chain retail locations in New York City grew from a total of 7,154 stores in 2015 to 7,243 stores in 2016, a 1.2 percent increase.
Among the study’s other major findings:
• Starbucks has more stores in Manhattan than any other national retailer with 223 locations, while Dunkin Donuts topped the list in each of the other boroughs.
In addition to these core venues, around 50 participating bars will open their doors to the Santas and offer special SantaCon deals. Those bars — along with the route's exact starting point — will be announced [tonight].
It has been a great privilege to have been a part of your lives for nearly 20 years at Salon Seven. Thank you for your patronage and loyalty ... I will be moving to a nearby location effective January 6, 2017. My new digs will be at the Tim Dark Hair Salon, located at 27 East 3rd Street where I will continue cutting your hair as usual...
