Three stores closing on Broadway

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On the east side of Broadway between 230th and 231st streets, “final clearance” and “sale” signs dominate the shop windowpanes of three stores that are leaving the neighborhood. 

FYE, which sold CDs, DVDs and video games, closed on Feb. 25. Real Steal, a dollar store, and RadioShack will shutter its doors within the next month. 

“The business is slow. We’re not making money,” said Real Steal’s manager, who gave his name as Vino.

He explained that his business could not survive in the neighborhood at current rent rates, though they have not increased even as new malls have come to other parts of Broadway.

FYE and RadioShack’s closures, on the other hand, appear to be part of a nationwide trend.

RadioShack, which has 4,297 stores throughout the U.S., filed for bankruptcy in early February. Kingsbridge Business Improvement District President Katherine Broihier speculated FYE could be consolidating to avoid RadioShack’s fate. 

“It’s the nature of what’s going on with chain stores over the country — too big expansion, too many stores not making enough money,” she said.  

The closures come as two new malls have sprung up on Broadway. Riverdale Crossing, located at Broadway and West 237th Street, is set to house a BJ’s Wholesale Club outlet, a Chipotle and several other chain stores and restaurants. 

Broadway Plaza, at Broadway and West 230th Street, opened in the fall and includes a Party City, a TJ Maxx, Sports Authority and an Aldi supermarket. 

Though some have speculated the new malls have and will hurt business on Broadway, Ms. Broihier said she saw no connection between the three store closings between West 230th and 231st streets and the malls. 

“It’s just kind of the nature of the retailer district,” she said. 

She acknowledged there was a parking problem on the Broadway stretch, however. Real Steal’s manager suggested that a lack of parking for shoppers in the area could have contributed to a decline in business, though Ms. Broihier said the majority of shoppers on Broadway come on foot. 

The closing of the three stores comes a little over a year after Loehmann’s department stores around the country, including the one on Broadway, closed. 

Loehmann’s, a discount department store, had filed for bankruptcy three times since 1999. 

The former Loehmann’s building, which once housed an ice rink, has been demolished. It will be replaced by a Storage Deluxe along with retail stores to be determined. 

Broadway, Radioshack, FYE, Real Steal, closings, Katherine Broihier, Maya Rajamani

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