Feature

Pearl River Mart

A packed-to-the-gills Chinatown classic gets a radical makeover.

By Rima Suqi

Year of the What?!: Stunned shoppers will hardly recognize the new Pearl River.

(Photo: Patrik Rytikangas)

Now playing on Broadway . . . After seventeen years in a cramped Off Broadway location, everyone’s favorite Asian department store has moved. Its new home: a 20,000-square-foot supermodern space at 477 Broadway (near Grand) with a huge waterfall and a café serving 40 types of tea.

But the clutter was so charming. Don’t worry—it’s still plenty chaotic. Lamps? Over by the food aisles, of course. Shoes? Upstairs and downstairs. Beauty items? By housewares, of course.

So it moves two blocks, and now we pay “uptown” prices? Hey, a pot of tea still costs less than a venti latte. Minimalist dishes that shriek “Calvin”: $7.50. Placenta face cream: $4.95. Retro-chic mens pajamas: $16.50.

And Pearl River’s signature surly service? Blessedly intact.