We've had some ups and downs this year, but it's remembering the good times that help keep us going. Here are some of our favorite moments from 2025.

A scintillating Year of the Snake

We kicked off Lunar New Year season with We Are Chinatown: A Portrait of Our Community Rising Through Labor and Love, a poignant exhibition from renowned multimedia artist Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya.

We hosted a fabulous Lunar New Year Day performance from the Wan Chi Ming Hung Gar Institute Dragon and Lion Dance Team. In Chelsea Market we held our annual extravaganza with ribbon dancing, lion dancing, and mahjong (thanks to NY1 for covering!).

Our own Joanne Kwong appeared on Good Day New York with Rosanna Scotto and Curt Menefee. We were also proud to donate lanterns to the Lunar New Year public school programs sponsored by the Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty.

Purr-fectly cute cat collabs

We had not one but two cat-themed collaborations this year. The first was with the Mega Cat Project and their limited edition Nyanto! figure, exclusively at Pearl River Mart, and fun shrines at our Soho and Chelsea Market stores.

The second was with tokidoki and the launch of their lucky cat blind boxes. You can find kawaii tokidoki displays at our Macy's pop-up and Chelsea Market store and until Jan. 4 and 15, respectively. If you're in the NYC area, be sure to enter tokidoki's $100 shopping spree giveaway.

The Monkey King in Manhattan

We welcomed back dear friend and former Pearl River Mart artist-in-residence Jerry Ma for The Monkey King in Chinatown: Illustrated Journeys of a Chinese Legend in NYC. This group exhibition featured eight renowned AAPI comic book and graphic novel artists and their modern interpretations of this iconic myth. In celebration of AANHPI Heritage Month, Jerry also had companion exhibitions in Chelsea Market and the Meatpacking District.

Potlucks, sales, and Diwali, oh my!

As always we were busy all year with events and activations. For AANHPI Heritage Month we participated in the marketplace of TAAF's annual Summit and Celebration and hosted a festive mahjong potluck with the Longest Table. 

We held our annual clearance sale (formerly known as our warehouse sale) at our Soho store. Over at Chelsea Market we participated in the food-tastic Anne Saxelby Legacy Fund benefit and hosted our very first Diwali event.

Our fearless leader

Pearl River Mart President Joanne Kwong made some special appearances this year, including in New York Times' piece on tariffs, lovely features from the Meatpacking BID and Faire, and the AAPI Power Players list from PoliticsNY and AM New York. She was also officially sworn in as a Commissioner of the National Asian Pacific American Museum Commission.

Sizzling summer fashion

This summer we launched a gorgeous summer fashion collection. The photo shoot was extra special: the models were Pearl River Mart Buyer Tien Lardner and her brother Cameron while the photographer was their mom (and Pearl River Mart Creative Manager and James Beard finalist) Christine Wong. Thanks to Welcome to Chinatown for generously lending us their beautiful space!

Fun and feasting at Pearl River Mart Foods

Lots was going on at Pearl River Mart Foods too. We partnered with Fly By Jing and food writer and influencer Frankie Gaw on a limited edition chili crisp ketchup (which quickly sold out). We were also proud to start carrying Bad for Business's banana ketchup, a Filipino specialty.

We celebrated Mid-Autumn Festival with delectable mooncakes from An Xoi and Kitsby, extended Maxi's Noodles' residency in our Little Eats 小吃 booth, welcomed Uncle Lau, the most influential food influencer, and held tastings from dozens of food and beverage vendors, including Achilles Heat, Chutni Punch, Doosra, Heydoh, Hoyehh, Lucky Ox, Mama Lam's, OMA Natural Foods, Reclamation Foods, Reprise Health, Sage Matcha, Senbird, Tasting India, Umami Insider, and Yoli Pantry.

We got rage-y with our fall art exhibition

From interactive artist Risa Puno, Unresolved: A Playable Archive of Rage and Reckoning, invites viewers to ponder questions about rage. They can spin a large wheel and answer a question at random or select one at random, and are welcome to add their answers to the community wall. On view through Jan. 31, 2026.

We popped up in Macy's!

In November we opened our 1,500-square-foot pop-up in Macy's Holiday Square. You'll find a carefully curated collection of Asian home decor, gifts, fashion accessories, cookbooks, snacks, and pantry essentials. Also featured are booths dedicated to bubble tea and other drinks from Tea and Milk, and an array of handheld snacks from Lower East Side Filipino eatery, Binondo. Open until Jan. 4, 2026.

Unexpected mentions

Of course we appreciate all our press mentions, but we were especially surprised this year by our inclusions in gift guides from The New York Times and New York Magazine.

Employee shenanigans

As always we had plenty of employee shenanigans, including our annual staff dinner, dressing up for Halloween, a summer boba social, and "encouraging" our coworkers to participate in social media by sharing their sticker personalities, love for plushies, and favorite things that have gone TikTok viral.

See you in 2026!