Adidas opens first Bronx store

Attention sneakerheads: Sneaker giant Adidas has opened their first store in The Bronx

Located at The Mall at Bay Plaza, the store is part of the brand’s expansion in the New York City region and is an 11,000-square-foot space offering the latest in the company’s famed footwear brand.

According to Yahoo, LaNiece Douglas, Adidas VP of retail in North America, said in a statement, “We are thrilled to officially open our newest store in the Bronx. This is an important one for us in our Key City, New York. We can’t wait to welcome everyone and really see it come to life.”

The store features artwork by local Bronxite and creative designer Jae Tips, who will be on hand at the opening.

Adidas’ arrival in The Bronx comes at the heels, pun intended, of the opening of Nike’s first store in the borough back in September of last year at Bay Plaza.

In recent years, the borough has seen an ever-increasing presence of national and global chains opening stores that once shunned The Bronx, including Apple, which opened its first store, and only one thus far, in the borough also at The Mall at Bay Plaza.

Unfortunately, with the presence of such retailers, retail rents have increased and forced smaller businesses to relocate or close, as was the case with 1800Fix at 149th and 3rd Avenue at The Hub, where a Krispy Kreme replaced the electronic repair store that had occupied that corner for almost 30 years.

Over on Fordham Road, a fourth Target store opened last year as part of an aggressive expansion in The Bronx, and just a few weeks later, the company signed a lease for a fifth store to be located at Bruckner Commons at the site of the former K-Mart.

One thing’s for sure, the retail landscape of The Bronx has undoubtedly changed, but at what cost?