Business & Tech
New Year for Bed-Stuy Businesses
While several businesses have shuttered, many more are opening
As the New Year kicks into full gear, many local business owners are looking ahead and hoping the economy will pick up.
2011 is off to a fairly good start: The national unemployment rate dropped from close to 10 percent down to 9.4 percent; December ranked as one of the biggest consumer spending months in the past few years; and economists predict that the rest of 2011 will be a much more productive year overall.
But the stigma of the past year still looms. Most local business struggled to get by, while many others shuttered.
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2010 saw the closing of such popular local shops such as Tuff Gurls Tattoo Studio, located at 255 Malcolm X Blvd, Food 4 Thought Cafe, located at 445 Marcus Garvey Blvd, Butternut Market, which was supposed to open at 307 Stuyvesant Ave in early 2010, but never came into fruition, and local favorite Bread Stuy, located at 403 Lewis Avenue, which shut down for a while but, reopened due to a community support and donations.
"When people don’t have jobs, there is less foot traffic for the stores," said Kenneth Mbonu, economic development specialist at the , a not-for-profit organization that specializes in building partnerships with local businesses.
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Mbonu stressed that the Bridge Street Development Corp is trying to get merchants to collaborate more with each other, as well as attract more shoppers from outside of the neighborhood.
He did say that times are tough for businesses right now, but that the neighborhood is in a much better place now than when the Bridge Street Development Corp started 16 years ago.
“Things are getting better.” Mbonu said. ‘The neighborhood is changing, which is a good thing.”
There are a few other bright spots for the neighborhood, as some Bed-Stuy businesses have opened their doors for the first time this past year.
One of those businesses is Liquid Oz, located at 302 Malcolm-X Blvd. First opened in November 2010, co-owner Rodney Hughes is optimistic about the future.
“It’s a new business in a slow economy, but it’s on par for the given situation,” said Hughes.
A long time Bed-Stuy resident, Hughes also owns Oz Hardware, located across the street at 307 Malcolm X Boulevard.
Hughes said that most businesses are still around from when he started his first business, Oz hardware, but he has seen a lot of other stores go under recently.
"You have to weather the storm [to be] a successful business," he added.
As for the other businesses in the neighborhood, there is help. Organizations such as the Merchants Association, for which Hughes sits on the Board of Directors, The Bridge Street Development Corp, and The Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation try to help new and struggling businesses stay afloat with business strategies, marketing techniques, and support from other local businesses and government agencies.
New shops are still opening up despite the downturn. Stores such as Fashion Runway Boutique, at 378 Tompkins Ave, Johntines Boutique (For plus-size women), at 332 Malcolm-X Blvd; Nippy Laverne Fashions, at 384 Tompkins Avenue; Lovey's, at 377 Marcus Garvey Boulevard, Everything on a Bagel, at 561 Gates Ave; and Cinnamon Girl, at 275 Nostrand have all opened within the past two months, with more new businesses on the way for the rest of 2011.