Oct. 14, 2010 Staff Report
Starberry Frozen Yogurt, which came to Sunnyside in 2008, has gone out of business.
The store, located at 43-11 Queens Blvd., was best known for providing gelato, frozen yogurt and bubble tea.
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Very true about the gyms, they do seem to survive but they have a very loyal clientele that pay a membership fee.
The gyms in Sunnyside seem to always survive somehow.
they should install combo bike/bus lanes – like 8th avenue in manhattan – on both sides of the boulevard. this would create a barrier between the traffic and the sidewalk, which would make a friendlier retail/restaurant/pedestrian environment. add some trees and planters to keep the traffic out…would make a big difference.
the city won’t go for it. we’ve tried.
Unfortunately this is all an exercise in futility, because the groundwork is being laid right now to change the zoning along the Boulevard in order to allow developers to knock down all those old buildings and replace them with 8-10 story residential buildings that will have huge ground floor retail space. Then all the big box retailers will come flooding in.
We’ll all remember the good old days when it was just pharmacies and cell phone stores.
(I feel bad for the lady who owned Starberry. She was very nice, and she was ALWAYS there.)
CVS is already in the midst of a “make-over,” including new “do it yourself” check-outs and more aisles of food items that seem more suited to supermakrets. They also started selling pre-made sandwiches and salads, which I thought was dumb considering the number of eateries in Sunnyside.
But they disappeared several days ago, I guess because they weren’t selling. According to the wrappers, they were made in Maryland, so were probably at least a day old by the time they reached Sunnyside.
CVS has alot of traffic it seems. I thought it wouldn’t do well with Duane Reade a few blocks down but I guess CVS is closer. There’s a Starbucks but not too sure about the traffic. Red Shoes is tought when you’re selling a somewhat obscure brand of workboots. Also they are pricey and you can get them in Manhattan or even Jcrew.
when is our town going to reaize that we need to get behind our stores and get motivated to run sales that will increase business. It is a very simple idea. This web site had a questioaire a week ago about how to increase business and a business dies a week late. We need help for our businesses and we need it know. If you are a maketing person and your read this site you shuld stick out your nectk and help out to inprove our town before it dies. Or our banks should help with a stimulus check for our stores to keep them alive
the only businesses that do well on queens boulevard are:
cvs
burger king
chase
duane reade
the 99 cent stores/south pole
dunkin donuts
wendys
white castle
…based on the traffic i see here all day. upzoning the blvd is probably a good idea, especially if it brings the kinds of stores people want.
the other problem is that the ice cream store sold coffee, chips, ice cream, korean candy and toys, and candles. it’s impossible to be in business if every other store is biting off your profit centers. maybe the pizza store down the block will pick up where they left off…selling toys, coffee, flowers, candy, show polish, jewlery, etc.
Maybe the business community was right, that Queens Blvd is on the ropes.
Not a surprise they closed though, especially when the ‘y’ fell off and wasn’t replaced. By the way, from what I can tell, the problem with retail and restaurants in the neighborhood goes beyond ripped awnings. Or it could be that the froyo trend came and went (after all they are closing left and right throughout all boroughs). Probably next to fall are the following:
Arriba Arriba (is it ever really that busy)
Yum Yum or Dee (only room for one nicer Thai restaurant)
Greenpoint Lounge
Red Wing Shoes
Sunnyside Tattoo
R.I.P. Starberry, but, you were more expensive than similar places in Manhattan.