7-11 Strikes Again

A reader writes in to report: "The Gramercy Corner shop, news, candy, magazines, etc., has closed soon after a 7-11 opened up next door."


Anonymous reader

In April, the Daily News visited the little mom-and-pop. They wrote:

"Near the 7-Eleven that opened at 247 Third Ave. in Gramercy early last year, local stores have had a hard time. Omar Irfan, the 46-year-old co-owner of Gramercy Corner at 20th St. and Third Ave. estimates that 7-Eleven took away 25-30% of his business. 'We sell a lot of the same things — snacks, cigarettes, lotto,' Irfan said. 'It’s very hard. We try to put prices a little down. Still, people come here for me. They know me.'"



Mr. Irfan hasn't shut down completely. He has managed to move across 20th Street and down a couple doors, next to the Dunkin Donuts Baskin Robbins, into a much smaller space than his last one. The rent here is cheaper. And maybe being a hair's breadth away from 7-11's field of gravity will help him catch some customers. But will his $1 coffee outsell Dunkin?

Where can a shop owner move to today that isn't near a competing chain?


Previously:
7-11 Zombification
Chain Stores in the City
Death of a Deli
We Want Our Bodega

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