BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — In the land of the cronut, the donut is still king.
The number of chain stores continues to grow across the city, with Dunkin' Donuts leading the charge, according to a study released Tuesday.
The donut seller — which is offering sugar cookie-flavored coffee this holiday season — now has 568 stores across the five boroughs, according to the Center for an Urban Future's annual survey of chain retailers in New York City.
This year's report found that the number of chain retailers citywide increased for the seventh year in a row, but they're opening at a much slower rate than previously recorded.
The city saw just a 1 percent uptick in the number of chains between 2014 and 2015, compared with a 2.5 percent increase from 2013 to 2014.
Despite the slow growth, the influx of chains has been a source of worry in some neighborhoods. An East Village group suggested using zoning to limit national retailers earlier this year and the #SaveNYC campaign launched to protect mom and pop shops threatened by chains.
Still, some neighborhoods have felt left out of the chain boom: business groups in Jamaica, Queens, fought to attract chains such as Starbucks.
Highlights from this year's survey include:
► The five most common chain stores citywide are Dunkin' Donuts (568 stores), Subway (444), Metro PCS (323), Starbucks (307) and Duane Reade/Walgreens (307).
► The retailers that grew the most over the past year included Sprint (70 locations, up from 28 in 2014), Fossil (11 locations up from four in 2014), Skechers (11 stores, up from seven), Nathan’s (25 shops up from 17) and Coach (18 stores up from 13).
► The neighborhoods with the most chains in each borough are:
Manhattan - Garment District/Koreatown 178 chains
Brooklyn - Brooklyn Heights 146 chains
Queens - Corona/Elmhurst 137 chains
Bronx - Parkchester 89 chains
Staten Island - New Springville 175 chains
Read the full report here.
