When some people hear the term “Starbucks,” many think of fancy frappuccinos, luxurious lattes, tasty tea, and creamy coffee. Jessica Muladzhanova, daughter of business owner, Stella Muladzhanova, does not have such warm connotations with the brand’s name.

Natural Identity Hair Design is a hair salon located in Rego Park, Queens owned by Stella, an immigrant from “Uzbekistan when it was a part of the USSR”. Back in the Soviet Union, Stella’s husband barbered for other people and gained a lot of insight about the hair industry. The pair brought all of their knowledge to Rego Park and utilized it after they bought the business in 1998 from the original owner, who opened the salon in 1973. The storefront was located on Queens Boulevard for about 42 years until Starbucks came into the picture in March 2015.

Jessica, the receptionist at Natural Identity Hair Design, explained that the lease of her parents’ business ended in March 2015. At that time, Starbucks offered more money to the landlord for that specific location. Though the landlord and Stella had good relations, the landlord sought to make a profit and accepted Starbucks’ offer. It turns out that the same thing happened with the card store next door; Starbucks offered more money to that landlord and acquired that area as well. They then broke the wall separating the two business to create a bigger Starbucks storefront.

Rego Park wasn’t always home to businesses like Natural Identity Hair Design. In the 1600s it used to be a field of land called Hempstead Swamp. The land on Hempstead Swamp turned out to be great for farming, so six families cultivated the land and built roads as well. This swampy area was renamed to the city of Whitepot and had a population of 30 in 1900. 23 years later, the Real Good Construction Company bought land on and bordering Whitepot to build homes that they would later sell for about $8,000 each. In hopes of making a profit, the construction company advertised with the slogan “REal GOod Homes”. The capitalization of the first two letters of “real” and “good” is how Rego Park derives its name (Perlman).

As time progressed, more small businesses opened up in the area; however, 1959 marked the beginning of large corporations settling in the neighborhood. The popular retail chain “Alexander’s” was well represented in New York; there were two locations in Manhattan, a storefront in Bronx, even a location in New Jersey, but the owner, George Farkas, had his sights on Queens Boulevard in Rego Park. Farkas dubbed Alexander’s the “World’s Largest Apparel Store” and attracted the consumers’ attention by orchestrating fashion shows in 1962 and by having a color film advertisement play on the television in the store. Alexander’s took business away from the smaller shops, but during the 90s, even that wasn’t enough to keep the retail store afloat. The store closed in 1992 due to “[the success of] other chain stores and rising real estate costs” (Perlman).

Both the smaller businesses surrounding Alexander’s back in the the 60s and Natural Identity Hair Design suffered both economically and emotionally because of gentrification. “It was rough,” Jessica stated when asked to remember her family’s reaction to their situation. She continued by describing how her father wanted to close down the business for good and just focus on their other hair salon on Kissena Boulevard, Kew Gardens Hills, also in Queens and about a 15-minute drive from Rego Park. Though the entire family was disheartened by the situation, Stella was adamant about continuing their business and decided that they would do it even if it meant relocating. Though Stella had problems with the landlord after what had happened, he offered her a different storefront a little-ways from Queens Boulevard and she accepted. Though the rent is lower now and the store gains traffic from the building across the street, the salon is hidden behind the street corner.

It’s been a year since Starbucks took over two privately owned businesses: Stella’s salon and the neighboring card store. When asked to reflect on the situation now, Jessica claimed, “It’s kind of scary how they have a monopoly and are able to buy out smaller businesses.” She went on to claim how unnecessary she thought it was to have a Starbucks in that location, explaining how there already was a Starbucks on Queens Boulevard and 67th Avenue, not too far from the location on 63rd Drive. In addition, there already were two Dunkin Donuts shops on opposite sides of the boulevard, on 63rd Drive alone. “Do we really need that much coffee?” she asked. She proceeded to tell me that she got really mad at Starbucks when she heard they were opening a drive-thru location a couple of blocks away from the storefront they had taken over. Though it will be the first drive-thru Starbucks location in Queens, Jessica is less than impressed.

A new Starbucks location isn’t all, however. After Alexander’s closed down, it was replaced with Rego Center I, a shopping complex that opened in 1996, home to big-name chains like Sears, Marshalls, Old Navy, Burlington, and Bed, Bath, & Beyond (Serant). While the Alexander’s storefront was replaced, their 250,000 square feet parking lot remained vacant. This all changed in 2010, when Rego Center II, another shopping complex, was unveiled right across the street from Rego Center I. Rego Center II consists of Costco, TJ Maxx, Century 21, Kohls, Toys R Us, and more. And just when you thought that was it, a new luxury condo building was being constructed on top of Rego Center II, which was once Alexander’s parking lot. This new building is fittingly named “The Alexander” (Marzlock) and will have 27 stories along with amenities like a game room, a fitness center, rooftop playgrounds, and even a concierge. In addition, the building will have “nine-foot ceiling heights, white oak flooring, Caesarstone quartz countertops and Italian porcelain tile flooring in kitchens and baths…” The rent for a studio begins at $2,025 a month, whereas the rent for a one-bedroom apartment begins at $2,360 per month (Kern-Jedrychowska). It’s simultaneously amusing and scary to see how the parking lot of Alexander’s, a store that sold sneakers for $5, has become The Alexander, an agent of gentrification in Rego Park. The rise of expensive condos is like a siren call to the “young professionals”, who will sooner or later begin to displace the current Rego Park residents (Laterman).

The 2015 NYC Community Health Profile states that 54% of the Rego Park population consists of whites, 28% Asian, 14% Hispanic, 3% black, and 2% other. Looking back at previous censuses, I noticed how there has always been a high population of whites in Rego Park. It can even be traced back to the time of the Holocaust, when there was an influx of German Immigrants, a majority of them Holocaust survivors, between the 1930s and the 1940s (Lord).

When comparing and contrasting 1940 Rego Park with 2014 Rego Park, you will notice the significant decrease in Germany-born residents. Romiel Daniel, a resident of Rego park since 1994, agrees that the area used to be “predominantly Polish, Hungarian, and German Jewish.” So why isn’t the area predominantly German anymore? Daniel claims that though the area is even more Jewish than before, “those Jews are coming from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan” (Carrasco). Daniel’s statements are backed up by those of my father, who explained that Jews who lived in the “-stan” countries were faced with large amounts of anti-Semitism, so many of them fled to America. Many Jewish families immigrated to the Rego Park/Forest Hills area in large numbers between the early 1980s to the late 1990s.

These Jews from the “-stan” countries also helped contribute to the 28% Asian population seen in the 2015 Health Profile. In fact, there are so many Jews that immigrated from Uzbekistan specifically, (called Bukharian Jews), that some refer to Rego Park as “Bukharlem”. Many of these Bukharian immigrants, like Stella, opened hair salons in the area, increasing the competition for clients.

Since Jessica lives in Rego Park, she is aware of the rising population of Bukharian-Jews; however, she claims that not that many go to Stella’s salon. She hypothesizes that this occurs because “most of the stylists [at Natural Identity Hair Design] are American.” She continued, “We could probably get more Bukharian clients if we had more Bukharian employees but we are happy with the stylists who work for us already and are not looking to fire anyone.”

After the move one block down from Queens Boulevard to Saunders Street, Stella bought new cabinets and gave the place a mini-renovation. Jessica informed me that the store’s most loyal customers come in every week.

Though the store’s ethnically diverse customers of all ages keep the business alive, the competition complicates things for Stella. According to Jessica, two new hair salons opened up recently, resulting in a total of five hair salons on 63^rd Drive alone. “This makes it harder to convince people that they should come to us [instead of our competitors]. All we need are people willing to come in.” In addition, the rise of gentrification in Rego Park leaves Jessica and Stella worried about the rent of their storefront rising.

Many questions arise when thinking about the future of Rego Park. Will the Bukharian-Jew enclave still prevail in upcoming years? Or will it be displaced by another group just like how the German-Jews were displaced? How drastically will the presence of additional luxury condos and chain corporations affect the real estate prices of the city as well as the survival of local businesses like Natural Identity Hair Design?

No one can be certain about what the future holds, but one thing is for sure: The next time I walk past a Starbucks, I will definitely take a moment to ponder about what was there before it.

Carrasco, Joni. “Temple’s World Expands Rego Park Jewish Center President’s From India.” Daily News, 5 Sept. 2004. Web. 1 May 2016.

Kern-Jedrychowska, Ewa. “Take a Sneak Peek Inside Luxury Tower Atop Rego Center Mall.” Dnainfo, 31 July 2015. Web. 1 May 2016.

Laterman, Kaya. “New Residences, Proposed QueensWay Advance in Rego Park, Queens.” The Wall Street Journal, 5 Feb. 2015. Web. 1 May 2016.

Lord, Mark. “‘The Whole United Nations is Here.’” Queens Chronicle, 18 June 2014. Web. 1 May 2016.

Marzlock, Ron. “Alexander’s Opens its Queens Store.” Queens Chronicle, 12 Sept. 2013. Web. 1 May 2016.

NYC Dept. of Health. “Queens Community District of Rego Park and Forest Hills.” 2015. Web. 2 May 2016.

Perlman, Michael. Legendary Locals of Forest Hills and Rego Park. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2015. Print.

Serant, Claire. “Sears Store to Open.” Daily News, 12 Mar. 1996. Web. 1 May 2016.

Photo Credits:

Header created using fotor.com

(Top Left): Google Maps

(Top Right): “Starbucks” by James Maskell is licensed under CC BY 4.0

“Bukharian Jewish Community Center” by Lauren F. Friedman is licensed under CC BY 4.0

“Rego Center in Rego Park, Queens, New York” by Elijah Fayerman is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo credit: Jessica Muladzhanova

“Wetlands Swamp” by Geoffrey A. Landis is licensed under CC BY 3.0

“Real Good Panorama” by Joshua Frankel