Headlines

Pearl River Mart to Close

Can’t afford rising rent bill

Published

9 years ago

April 8, 2015

Sarah Whitman

Chinese department store Pearl River Mart (New York City) is closing up shop and may go digital because of rising rent costs at its 477 Broadway storefront, where it has been located for 12 years.

The 44-year-old retailer plans to close by the end of the year when its lease expires, reports Crain’s New York Business. Pearl River currently pays more than $100,000 a month for its shop, and rent would rise more than five times when the lease expires at the end of December, according to Ching Yeh Chen, the company's president.

Pearl River is known for its inexpensive braided straw slippers, oilcloth lunchbags, paper lanterns and other products from China. The store occupies 30,000 square feet spread across the ground, second and basement levels of 477 Broadway, between Grand and Broome streets, and has moved twice since launching in Chinatown in 1971.

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