As the Yankees designed and built their new stadium, they did so with one overriding goal in mind: The team wanted to capture as much Yankee-related revenue as possible. The old House that Ruth Built was short on souvenir space, and the sports memorabilia and merchandise stores across the street from the old stadium filled that void. The new stadium though features two massive retail stores that better capture dollars fans used to spend along River Ave. and 161st St., and businesses have been hurting outside the stadium.
As WNYC’s Ailsa Chang details, the stores in the surrounding area are seeing precipitous drops in revenue as new human traffic patterns take them out of the neighborhood and into the ballpark. Some stores are reporting revenue losses between 30-60 percent, and the neighborhood could soon be hurting commercially as the new stadium represents a self-contained baseball experience.
There is, however, a twist as some local business leaders say the stadium merchants aren’t adapting to the new multi-use aspect of the ballpark. “The Yankee Stadium venue is a world-class venue, and it’s going to attract world-class events — concerts, football, hockey and the like,” Cary Goodman, head of the 161st St. BID said. “And each of these has a different constituency, and they’re also consumers for different products.”
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