Craft Store Michaels's Arrival in Boerum Hill Miffs Residents

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

We've known for a while now that craft emporium Michael's was set to open a two-story shop in the Atlantic Galleria mini-mall alongside Blink Fitness at Atlantic Avenue and Boerum Place in March 2016 — but apparently, the development hasn't gotten easier to stomach with time. According to The Brooklyn Paper, residents are displeased, and predictably so.

"It seems pretty random to me," neighbor Hannah Hens-Piazza told the blog of the decision to place two major chains on a street "better know for Middle Eastern grocery stores, and — more recently, antiques shops, — small fashion boutiques." Added fellow local Vicky Vossen:  "I wonder if they did some focus group testing in the area to find out if there's a market. I'm frankly surprised that there's a market if they did. Still, I'll go in and see what goes on."

Though the neighborhood's addition doesn't come as a total shock to some residents, considering all of the changes that are taking place elsewhere in Brooklyn — Willamsburg is obviously the prime example, with everything from Whole Foods to Ralph Lauren. "I'm not surprised," Carly Wertheim said to the site. "There have been so many large chain stores opening up in the neighborhood recently."

And not just the neighborhood, but the borough: Last year, chain stores claimed an additional 275,000 square feet of retail space in Brooklyn.