Due to tense Cold War political relations between the United States and China, imports from China were back then barely a trickle, so just filling up the store posed enormous challenges. But in their first venture onto this untrodden territory – a humble storefront on Catherine Street in Manhattan – they managed to pack square feet with all kinds of goodies then barely known to Americans: soy sauce, dried chili peppers, to Chinese-made cotton t-shirts, bamboo steamers, and Mao Zedong’s “little red book” of political doctrines.
Given the unpredictability of those times, the founders weren’t sure how their inventory would change or expand, so they chose the most inclusive name possible: “Chinese Native Products.” Under that banner, they figured anything and everything worth selling might find its way onto the cramped shelves.
And over the next three decades, it did. Pearl River has cultivated a reputation in New York City for being the place where you can really find just about anything: from Buddha statuettes to rice snacks to chopsticks, along with countless things you can’t even name. Many of our customers walk through the doors not knowing what they want, only to walk out hours later with exactly what they were looking for.
Since 1971, Pearl River has had four homes. In 1978, we moved from Catherine Street, to Elizabeth Street, where “Chinese Native Products” formally became “Pearl River.” We then moved to Canal Street in 1986. And in 2003, Pearl River established its biggest and brightest location yet on Broadway. About 20 times the size of its original incarnation, the new store features three levels (including one still under wraps), framed by unique architecture that matches our eclectic flair.
The world has changed a lot in the past 35 years, and so has Pearl River. But our goal remains the same as it was when we first opened our doors on Catherine Street: to provide not only a great shopping trip, but also a genuine cultural experience. We are grateful to our loyal customers for shaping Pearl River into what it is today. And now that we’ve come this far in building a bridge between East and West, we hope that together, we can continue crossing it.
If you have not yet had a chance to visit the store in person, we would like to take you on a virtual tour of the store. Click on the link on the side to begin!