16 OCTOBER 10, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
GLENDALE & RIDGEWOOD: OUR NEIGHBORHOODS
Myrtle Avenue’s BID says closed Ridgewood
storefronts are mostly due to changes in retail
The corner of Myrtle Avenue and 60th Lane in Ridgewood today, near where the Our Darling Match Factory once stood. Photo via Google Maps
BY ANGELICA ACEVEDO
AACEVEDO@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
For years now, Ridgewood residents
have grown concerned over
the amount of closing storefronts
and number of vacancies that loom
over Myrtle Avenue’s shopping
strip.
But according to Ted Renz, executive
director of the Myrtle Avenue
Business Improvement District
(BID) in Ridgewood, experts found
that the vacancy rate is “not serious”
compared to other markets.
“Our vacancy rate is about six and
a half, almost seven percent,” Renz
told QNS. “It’s a pretty stable commercial
strip.”
However, Renz acknowledged that
for their district, which spans from
Wyckoff Avenue to Fresh Pond Road,
the vacancy rate is higher than the
strip’s traditional rates of “three and
four percent.”
The BID executive director also
mentioned that some of the stores
that have recently shuttered belong
to a national chain rather than small
businesses, such as Payless Shoe-
Source and Petland Discounts.
The closures are part of a national
trend, which has seen many retail
stores that once thrived now filing
for bankruptcy and subsequently
shutting their doors.
“Retailing is changing,” Renz said.
“There are some new stores coming
in, but it’s an ongoing thing where
businesses go out and others come
in.”T
he Ridgewood Seneca/Catalpa
Stroll, hosted by the BID in the hopes
of showcasing local businesses, will
be taking place on Oct. 26, from 12 to
5 p.m. It will stretch Seneca Avenue
from Weirfield Street to Cornelia
Street and Catalpa Avenue, and back
to Myrtle Avenue.
The event will feature lots of food,
kid-friendly activities, antique buses
from the MTA and beer tastings
from local breweries, including the
newly opened Evil Twin Brewering
New York City.
On the other hand, a recent survey
conducted by QNS and Ridgewood
Times found that Glendale’s half of
Myrtle Avenue is struggling to offer
destination stores for consumers
and meet the needs of its small business
owners.
To combat this, Dorothy Stepnowska,
owner of Flower Power Coffee
House, is spearheading the newly
resurrected Glendale Chamber of
Commerce.
Stepnowska has worked with Renz
for ideas on how to help the small
business owners, who she says are
being met with unfair treatment by
city officials.
“I think the city has to do a little
more for small businesses because
we’re the backbone of it,” she said.
“I hear people constantly telling me
that it’s too expensive. The city is not
for small businesses, all we do is get
fined for any little thing.”
Stepnowska recently experienced
first hand some financial setbacks
for her business when the city passed
a law that prohibited CBD-infused
food and drinks.
Seeing fellow business owners
struggle to know their rights is
what’s driving her to lead the Glendale
Chamber of Commerce, which
she hopes won’t just focus on Glendale
but Queens as a whole.
Stepnowska invites the community
to attend the Chamber’s next
meeting on Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. at the
Ridgewood Savings Bank.
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