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Right after Christmas last year, a coffee shop opened in Manhattan's Inwood neighborhood. Like many other java sellers in the area, the shop touted its café con leche, a drink popular with Dominican residents. However, unlike nearby mom-and-pop businesses, the newcomer was a national brand whose name, Starbucks, has become synonymous with high-priced joe.
"It's the first Starbucks in Inwood," explained David Firestein, the Shopping Center Group partner who represented Starbucks in negotiating for its 1,400-square-foot space on the corner of Dyckman Street and Broadway. "When Starbucks comes, the likelihood of some more national companies coming probably increases."
Enter the chains. Many brokers predict that Starbucks' Inwood arrival - the closest other location is a mile away, on West 181st Street - will herald the chain-ification of a neighborhood that until now had remained relatively free of affluent brands. Already, the area, located on Manhattan's northernmost tip, bounded by the Harlem and Hudson rivers, has undergone drastic changes as more high-income earners flee southern Manhattan's pricey rents for Inwood's greener pastures, which include Fort Tryon Park.
From 2007 to 2012, ridership at the Dyckman Street A-line subway station rose 28%, to 2.3 million annually, according to...