Welcome Back, Shoppers

As the city and suburbs brace for the inevitable frenzy of shopping that begins on the day after Thanksgiving, the Center for an Urban Future highlights a new trend in shopping habits that is having an effect on the city’s economy. Significant numbers of shoppers who live outside of New York City are returning to several concentrated shopping districts throughout the city to buy goods like “saris, spices, plantains, herbal medicines and an assortment of other ethnic products.” These unique products are difficult to find for immigrants, their descendants, and others in suburban shopping centers, many of which are filled with big box stores and national chains.

The individuals returning to the city spend their cash and generate tax revenue for the city that would have otherwise been spent in Long Island, New Jersey, or Connecticut. The concentrated shopping districts are also driving the creation of new jobs at a faster pace than in other areas in the city.

The number of businesses citywide increased by 9.6 percent between 1994 and 2004. By contrast, the number of businesses in Flushing grew by an astonishing 54.6 percent during the same period and increased by 47.3 percent in Sunset Park, by 33.7 percent in Sheepshead Bay-Brighton Beach, by 17.8 percent in Washington Heights, by 14.3 percent in Jackson Heights and by 10.8 percent in Flatbush…Overall employment in the city increased by 6.9 percent between 1994 and 2004. During the same period, employment rose by 33.6 percent in Washington Heights, by 27.9 percent in Jackson Heights, by 23.2 percent in Sunset Park, by 13.3 percent in Sheepshead Bay-Brighton Beach, by 12.1 percent in Flushing and by 10.2 percent in Elmhurst.

The business and job growth are positives for the city as is the reversal in the general trend of New Yorkers venturing out of the city to find deals amidst the vast shopping malls and parking fields of suburban and exurban New York.

As immigrant populations grow, these shopping districts are poised to experience growth, especially if local politicians and planners take their into account their potential as regional draws. There is also potentially competition on the horizon, as retail outlets that offer goods targeted to specific communities begin to develop outside of the city.