Popular Chain Stores Add Links on Fordham Road Starbucks, Kinko's, Old Navy, Gap Set Up Shop By HANNAN ADELY Popular retailers are finally discovering the Fordham Road shopping district. GapKids, Old Navy, and Kinko's will all open up their doors in coming months, and coffee giant Starbucks began brewing its first beans on May 15. Bronx residents, weary of trekking to other boroughs to spend their money, welcome the sea change in corporate attitude towards the Bronx. "If I want to go to Old Navy or Gap, I always have to go to Manhattan or Co-op City," said Elizabeth Camacho, of Kingsbridge Road. "Now I can go right here."
Why are big-name companies streaming into the Fordham area? "Corporations are coming because business is good," said Jose Velez, head of the Bronx Council for Economic Development, a non-profit agency charged with promoting and improving the Fordham Road shopping area. "This is all market-driven." It's only surprising that corporate America didn't make the discovery sooner. The Fordham Road commercial strip is home to over 400 stores and the federal government estimates that there is over $180 million in annual retail income potential in the half-mile radius surrounding the Fordham-Grand Concourse intersection, according to Velez. Starbucks got its first taste of local demand for its products when it went to a Bronx neighborhood to distribute free samples and received an overwhelmingly positive response, said company spokesman Paul Williams. The company chose 314 E. Fordham Rd. for its first Bronx store after scouting out a number of locations. Starbucks has at least 70 stores in the city's other four boroughs. Williams noted that Fordham's Starbucks is larger than most of those in Manhattan, allowing the store to host live music and poetry readings featuring local artists, writers, and musicians. Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer will attend the store's grand opening on Saturday, June 12. The event, which is open to the public, will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will feature live music and free coffee and pastry samples. The Gap is another well-known store that was without a Bronx location in its New York City repertoire of more than 60 outlets, including 25 GapKids. GapKids will set up shop in the former Caldor building on Fordham Road. Old Navy, which has 23 stores in NYC, will be opening its third Bronx store, also at the Caldor site. (The Gap and Old Navy have not yet set opening dates.) Kinko's is yet another newcomer to Bronx County. The store, which will open in November or December of this year, at 2555 Webster Ave., across from Fordham University, will offer copying, computer, document services and office supplies. "It is certainly a very promising location for our company because it is a high traffic area," said Laura McKormick, a Kinko's spokeswoman. Velez is glad the incoming businesses are not "fly-by-night" operations. The vacancy rate on Fordham Road, he said, is an encouraging six percent this year, down from last year's 11 percent rate. But the stores will bring more than a sense of permanency. Velez predicts the stores will attract more shoppers in an already busy shopping area and he hopes the business community will reinvest some of its increased revenue into improving the physical appearance of the commercial corridor, by adding benches and garbage receptacles and addressing parking issues. His agency has already gotten the beautification ball rolling by co-sponsoring an ongoing graffiti cleanup on Fordham Road with Councilman Adolfo Carrion.
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Camacho
was spotted relaxing at Starbucks after a morning of shopping. "I
always hang out with my friends at Starbucks in Manhattan, especially
in the winter," she said. "We always meet and drink coffee.
Now my friends can meet me here."
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