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When you move to New York and finally land a reasonable—but still ridiculously overpriced—apartment there is hardly enough money leftover to furnish your new crib. That’s why Gotham is (or was) lucky to have Pearl River Mart, a three-floor hodgepodge warehouse of trinkets, kitchenware, clothes, lighting and gift items priced for a few bucks and up.
Sadly, after dishing out incredible deals on home goods for 12 years at its 477 Broadway location, Pearl River Market is packing up its rice-paper lanterns, ceramic tea sets, and colorful coin purses for good.
According to Crain’s reports, the super-budget-friendly shop is exiting its 30,000-square-foots home by the end of 2015 due to a major rent leap. Company president Ching Yeh Chen said the brand already pays more than $100,000 a month in rent, but the price is expected to hike up to $500,000 by December. Sure, there are great and affordable home décor stores in New York, but judging by a few outraged Tweets, you can tell that Pearl River Mart was one of the New York shopping scene’s prized jewels. We haven’t seen the Twitterverse this upset since the L Train drama.
Please support my Kickstarter to save Pearl River Mart, even though it's def unsustainable & the sky-high condo-loving market has spoken. :/
— Christina Cacioppo (@christinacaci) April 7, 2015
http://t.co/UTkBAuxy3d pearl river is closing bc of 500k a month rent. i feel ill
— Arabelle Sicardi (@arabellesicardi) April 7, 2015
NOOOO PEARL RIVER MART ?
— Susan Cheng (@scheng_) April 7, 2015
Sad day... another Manhattan icon is going to close. Pearl River Mart you will be missed http://t.co/1QhS5u4JBQ
— ExploringNY (@exploring_ny) April 7, 2015
The good news is the beloved Chinese mart still plans to maintain its e-commerce site, boasting 15,000 items and counting. Which is a good thing since you’ll have a hard time finding takeout-container-shaped lamps anywhere else.