Lower East Side Merchants

Will They Survive Malls, Martinis and Media Hype? (2009)

Lower East Side Merchants: Will They Survive Malls, Martinis, and Media Hype? documents the issues faced by Lower East Side merchants as chain stores, upscale restaurants, and gentrification change the makeup and shopping preferences of their potential customers. The report is based on interviews we conducted with 120 business owners and a broad cross-section of neighborhood residents and visitors.

We believe that the family-owned retail businesses of the Lower East Side are essential to the neighborhood’s unique character. We hope that the issues raised in this report will lay the groundwork for a community-wide effort to help them survive, prosper, and contribute to the area’s diversity in the 21st century.