Brooklyn's Progress
January 2003

Proprietors Yassir and Mohammed Abdelhadi have opened their fourth Connecticut Muffin cafe on Myrtle Avenue in Clinton Hill.  Recognizing a “caffeine void”, the Myrtle Ave. Revitalization Project LDC (MARP) attracted the Brooklyn-based cafe to a corner storefront at Myrtle and Clinton Avenues, in a building newly renovated by the Pratt Area Community Council (PACC).  The ribbon-cutting was celebrated with local elected officials, friends, and neighbors on Dec. 20.

Based on the results of local focus groups conducted by Long Island University marketing students, MARP knew there was significant demand for a quality café on Myrtle Avenue.  MARP Executive Director Jennifer Gerend began working to recruit a Brooklyn-based café to the Avenue, and handed out business cards wherever she drank coffee around Brooklyn. 

Connecticut Muffin, a muffin powerhouse, showed some interest. Immediately, local groups such as the Clinton Hill Homeowners Association, a consortium of the cooperative apartment towers in Clinton Hill, joined an effort to bring Connecticut Muffin to Myrtle Avenue by writing a letter of encouragement to the owners.  Gerend said, “It was as if a Connecticut Muffin campaign had formed – everyone was very excited.” 

About one year and several visits later, Connecticut Muffin owners found the perfect location on Myrtle Avenue, a corner building acquired by PACC through the Neighborhood Redevelopment Program III, an affordable housing program of the New York City Housing and Preservation Department.  Yasser Abdelhadi said, “We had been hoping for a welcoming corner storefront – we couldn’t be happier about the new location.” 

As a business development strategy, MARP has found that small Brooklyn-based chains from nearby neighborhoods are more likely than other businesses to take a risk on a retail strip that may not be as obviously desirable.  Another recent example involves Bergen Bagels’ decision to open a store on Myrtle Avenue.  Gerend said, “These are smart local entrepreneurs who know when they have customers traveling to them from other neighborhoods – why not ask them to bring the business to the customers?”

PACC and MARP have worked together on numerous business development initiatives, such as the recent opening of a health food store next to the Connecticut Muffin and a storefront open house called Rolling Up the Gates held in February.  PACC Executive Director Steve Aronson, said, “It’s important to us that our commercial tenants add real neighborhood value.  I had always been impressed with Connecticut Muffin’s service, prices and quality in Park Slope, and the genuinely neighborliness of their operations.” 

The Brooklyn-born brothers Yassir and Mohammed Abdelhadi own Connecticut Muffin cafes on Montague Street, Prospect Park West, and on 7th Avenue in Brooklyn.   Surely the new Fort Greene location will be equally popular with its neighbors.