In Fall 2021, PbP NY members surveyed Chinatown Manhattan small businesses. As advocates of the Asian American community, we spend a lot of time collaborating with and fundraising for non-profits.

In the last 2 years, this community has been impacted by major events. We wanted to take a pulse and listen to the backbone of this community. Through this survey, we hoped to build a first hand perspective on the current state of the Chinatown Manhattan's small businesses.

Chinatown NYC Survey

PbP's Outreach team, along with 3 external volunteers, spent several weeks curating a short survey of 12 questions. And on November 28th, 10 volunteers walked the streets of Chinatown Manhattan and visited several small businesses, not limited to any specific product or service.

We want to share our findings in efforts to generate a better qualitative understanding of the impact of these past two years as well as a better understanding of how to nurture and support our local small businesses.

The following insights were derived from our sample of 19 responses…

Why Chinatown?

Business owners chose Chinatown as a location for 2 main reasons:

Demographics: Target customers live or visit Chinatown
Accessibility: Access to public transportation and general location of real estate

Change vs. Sustainability

68% of businesses believe that their customer base has changed in the last 5 years, and they have been impacted by other establishments that have opened in Chinatown within the last 5 years.

74% of businesses believe that despite increased competition and a changing customer base, Chinatown is still a suitable location for their businesses.

Social Media

8 out of 19 businesses use at least one social media platform to advertise their business. The remaining businesses either do not have any online presence or only use a website.

Top 3 Challenges

Top 3 challenges faced by small businesses in Chinatown Manhattan in 2021 were

Business Strategy: Maintaining business process management and growth
Sales & Growth: Retaining customers and competitive pricing
Operations & Overhead: Increasing overhead costs and cost of goods, labor shortages

One shared pain point across all businesses was the lack of foot traffic. As of October 2021, foot traffic in Chinatown Manhattan is still down as much as 30%, according to Bloomberg.

“We lost 70% of our business.
There used to be tourists and recurring customers, but with COVID and Asian Hate,
people are scared to come out.”
- Bakery Owner in Chinatown Manhattan

Having a Voice

53% of businesses owners feel that they do not have a way to voice their opinions or concerns regarding their business or the district of Chinatown.

“Custom fees and cost of goods have increased since COVID... it is hard to tell if Chinatown is still sustainable.”
- Martial Arts Store Manager

“It is hard for us to compete with large supermarkets... Since COVID, labor and insurance costs have increased... Once I retire, I told my son to sell the store.”
- Local Grocery Store Owner

What resources are businesses asking for?

Outside Capital
Government Relief Programs

Approximately 55% of Asian-owned companies reported their 2020 revenue dropped by 75%.

In a survey conducted by the Asian American Federation, Asian communities received less aid in 2020 from the Small-Business Paycheck Protection Program than other communities in the city. In the final PPP round of 2021, this was also the case.

The Resiliency of Chinatown

A Challenging Operating Environment: Businesses in Chinatown NY Manhattan are experiencing: higher operating costs, reduced foot traffic, increased competition, and a changing customer base
Working with (un)sustainability: Despite challenges related specifically to COVID-19 and #StopAsianHate, most businesses believe that Chinatown is still a suitable location for their business.
Lack of Social Media Proficiency: A majority of businesses in Chinatown do not leverage social media, and some still lack an online website.
Overwhelmed and Underrepresented: Business owners do not believe they have a way to discuss their opinions and concerns with local governments.

Why This Matters

Most business surveyed are family run. Some have existed for 15+ years. These businesses are not only operating under post-pandemic supply chain constraints and challenges, but are also facing community specific disruption while lacking support from local governments.

There is a clear need for support.

Powered digitally or by a simple word of mouth, action is now needed more than ever.

Be an advocate and show support for your local AAPI community.

Special thanks to our 2021 CASES Team: Sharron Chu, Jeany Zhao, Casey Chan, Terrence Chan, Jason Chen, Dow Kim, Lisa Li, Briana Squires, James Tang, Amy Wong, Nancy Wong

CASES 2021: Chinatown NYC Survey