How business can bloom even now...

New York City is a place that never sleeps - could it be because of all the coffee shops lurking around?



Most of the recent growth in the New York high-end coffee market can be traced back to Starbucks. New Yorkers were getting used to the idea of sophisticated coffee before the company opened, wanting to offer more then just regular watery "diner" coffee, and a "regular" cup from the street carts, who's taste is blocked out by sugar and milk. Starbucks saturated the market with its opening in 1994, planning to have 100 stores in Manhattan within four years. Today, there are nearly 200 Starbucks shops on that little "island". It  created a huge market of consumers who no longer tolerated "bad coffee" - but it also drove many smaller chains out of business. However, that is quickly changing in today's economy.  Today, Small coffee chains, benefit from lower retail rents and the created bottomless thirst for high-end coffee even in weaker economy, and are taking the opportunity to expand in New York City. The higher rates of unemployment, that came out of this weak market, forced many people to find their entrepreneurial spirit and start something on their own. 

The lower rents that came out of it, made a lot of the shop owners feel like they needed to open up. As well, landlords became more flexible about considering food service businesses and new businesses as tenants — In a softer economy, landlords have a little bit less say in that area. 

One interesting company that comes out of this whole mess is Pudge Knucles, a start-up roasting facility in Red Hook. They plant to become a chain, and even aspire for a dozen shops. This company takes pride in its NYC herritage, and names their coffees names like "East Coast Thriller" and "Five Borough Blend". Their aim is to provide an unpretentious alternative to overly "sophisticated" coffee chains. And even though more creative and determined coffee shops seems to be filling the market, there is plenty of room for competition.

“I would say there’s really no place in Manhattan where you’re not going to find a competitor,” said Shelton Franklin, a senior managing director at S. Blair Partners, a real estate services company “There’s always somebody a block away, but there still seems to be room for more.”  - Now that's an interesting idea, a city RUN by coffee.("Fuel for the City That Never Sleeps", by Alison Gregor.)