New York's Small Businesses Are Booming Again — and the Boroughs Are Leading
New storefront applications hit a record across the five boroughs this spring, as founders bet that neighborhood retail still beats the algorithm.
A decade after storefront vacancies became a symbol of the city's struggles, New York's small business sector is running hot again. City filings for new retail and service businesses reached their highest level in more than fifteen years this spring, according to the fictional Empire Small Business Council, with the fastest growth outside Manhattan.
Owners describe a shift in how New Yorkers spend. "People got tired of everything arriving in a box," said Dela Okonkwo, who opened a home-goods shop in Sunset Park last year and has already signed a second lease. "They want to touch things, talk to somebody, be somewhere." Her experience is echoed in neighborhoods from Astoria to Bay Ridge, where landlords report the tightest ground-floor market in years.
Economists caution that rising rents could eventually cool the surge, and margins remain thin. But for now, the story on the city's commercial strips is one of momentum — a reminder that in New York, the corner store is still a growth industry.
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