So long TGI Fridays, hello Dunkin: NYC lost a lot of chain stores this year

National retailers are still struggling to keep their brick-and-mortar locations afloat in New York City as residents continue to shop online rather than splurge in person, according to a new report.

The number of chain stores across the five boroughs decreased 1.3% over the past year — the fifth time there’s been a net decrease in the past seven years — the report from the Center for an Urban Future found. The city lost 109 of its 8,148 chain retail stores, bringing the total down to 8,039. And 10 chain retailers shuttered all of their NYC locations this year, including TGI Fridays, La Perla and Oakley.

The findings released on Wednesday continue a yearslong trend, according to the organization, which has been tracking retail data in its annual State of Chains report since 2008. Many national retailers still have fewer locations in the city than they did before the pandemic.

But not every big retailer is axing locations en masse. Dunkin’ remained the chain with the most locations in all five boroughs for the 17th consecutive year, with 626 stores. Starbucks, which has more locations in Manhattan than any other major retailer, took second place. Popeye’s picked up 13 new locations, more than any other national food chain ranked by the center.

“It’s a mixed bag, because while we are seeing fewer merchandise retail stores in New York City, food is still going up. People are still walking streets, shopping and getting out of their homes,” said Jonathan Bowles, the Center for an Urban Future’s executive director and co-author of the study.

Both proportionately and in raw numbers, Manhattan lost more retail chain locations than any other borough — 56 locations, a drop of 1.8%. The Bronx lost the fewest — just four chain locations, or .4%. But the count decreased in every borough.

The 13 largest chains in the report have lost a combined 797 locations since 2019, representing an average loss of 61 stores each, the Center for an Urban Future said. Duane Reade, T-Mobile, Subway and 7-Eleven lost the most store locations over the last year, according to its data.

Bowles said stores have been struggling every year since people began shopping online.

“Every year we seem to be seeing more clothing stores, shoe stores and stores selling cosmetics and jewelry cutting back and reducing their footprint in the city because it’s just so hard to compete with e-commerce these days,” Bowles said.

Earlier this month, Mayor Eric Adams announced a $152.7 million investment to make Fifth Avenue more pedestrian-friendly as part of an attempt to boost the economy of one of Manhattan's major shopping areas.