New Year, New Beginnings
To the Pearl River Mart Community,
Every November, our team starts running at full speed shortly before Black Friday and does not take a breath until the start of Lunar New Year is completed. This year was no exception and, if anything, was perhaps even more frenzied than past years due to limited staff, vastly different consumer buying patterns, the opening of our newest store Pearl River Mart Foods, and the unexpected need to vacate our Tribeca location and find and build out a new flagship store.
Despite the chaos, we are proud to have not only kept operations going in our three open locations and e-commerce platforms, but to have helped #LightUpChinatown on Mott Street, raised revenue for fellow Chinatown businesses with The Chinatown Collection, and planned the largest socially distanced outdoor Lunar New Year dining and lion dance celebration at Chelsea Market. The pandemic has forced us — and every other retail and hospitality small business in the nation — to pivot almost every single day.
Now that the Year of the Ox has arrived, we are turning in earnest to the impending move of our flagship location. First up, let’s tell you where it is. Drum roll please … our newest flagship store will be located at … 452 BROADWAY between Howard and Grand! Yes, you read that right — we are returning to SoHo!
It is painfully ironic that due to the realities of NYC real estate and the ruthlessly increasing costs of running a small business in the city, we’ve had to move the main store five times in our 50-year history, always after serving as a community anchor and helping to build up each respective block. For those of you keeping track:
- 22 Catherine St. (1971 to 1980)
- 13 Elizabeth St. (1978 to 1986)
- 277 Canal Street (1986 to 2003)
- Outpost at Grand Street (1988 to 2004)
- 477 Broadway (2003 to 2016)
- 395 Broadway (2016 to 2021)
- 452 Broadway (2021 to forever!)
- Plus outposts at Chelsea Market and the Museum of Chinese in America (2017 to present)
A few things remain constant:
- The Chens! (who live in the neighborhood and refuse to move PRM more than five minutes from home)
- All of the items you love!
- Our love and gratitude for the downtown community ❤️
- Our dedication to Chinatown and mission of preserving and advancing Asian American culture
Over the next several weeks, we will be working hard to rebuild and invite you to follow along on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or email. It has honestly been a harrowing 13 months, but we have been buoyed by your kind and encouraging visits, emails, DMs, tweets, posts, calls, orders, and well wishes. THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts. Jia You!
Sincerely,
Joanne Kwong, the Chens, and all of us at PRM
[Image: Sneak peek of the new space! We were happy to invite a small group of community volunteers who worked with us on Light Up Chinatown (led by our partners at Think!Chinatown) to christen the empty new store as we personalized and hand-dipped 250 lanterns in polyurethane to protect them from the elements, including no less than four epic snowstorms this season!]