Why is Church Ave continually ignored?

We can't help but be a little jealous after stopping by Cortelyou the other day and noticing it's new health food store. The food co-op on Cortelyou has been around for some time but other fun shops have opened recently making it the main drag on this end. Now a new health food store and a Connecticut Muffin to come! Why all the attention on that end? We know residents have worked for years and years to get these amenities and were successful in getting a green market and the recent re-development of their street complete with cobblestone sidewalks, benches and new trees.

Our side of Coney Island has been experiencing huge amounts of residential growth yet our main business strip continues to be ignored by retail and business. We're not quite sure why businesses flock to Cortelyou since the rents there don't seem so much cheaper then Church Ave rents. We recently found a VoxPop blast in the inbox with a 300 sq. ft. space for $1000 a month. That's approx $40 a foot which is in the range (if not a little more) of the current vacancies on Church Ave. Even with rents in this range we think Church Ave could do well considering how many residents would like a few little shops and restaurants plus we think there is great potential for day customers. Church Ave is within walking distance of five schools (IHM, PS230 Annex, PS 230, PS 130, PS 179), a post office, two bus lines that end pretty close to McDonald (so lots of MTA on break), and many residents working from home as well as a growing parent contingent.

We want everyone down on this end to do well but we're just wondering why businesses haven't discovered our little enclave? Wouldn't it make sense to put a health food store or a coffee shop on a block that doesn't already have one?