I’m sure back in its glory day, this place must have been a thriving and popular business place for people to shop at. Came here randomly while wandering around in Chinatown and it was quite… Empty feeling. Most of the remaining shops are located in the bottom floor. However, there are a lot of vacant places that used to be businesses that made the place feel empty and cold. For the remaining shops that are still in business, most of these range from your usual gift /souvenir like shops to animé oriented shops that are ideal for people who are into manga /animé. It doesn’t take more than five minutes to walk through the whole place and there wasn’t too much to see. My friend who showed me around was surprised at how many businesses were gone since he last visited this place. If you’re in a time crunch and want to see something, this is a place that can be skipped in favor of seeing other things in Chinatown.
Susan L.
Tu valoración: 2 Hollywood, FL
Just not what it use to be! A lot of empty shops, use to have lots of gift shops with inexpensive cute items. Luckily one of the shop that sold stuff animals and other cutesy items opened a block or two from Elizabeth Center!
Samantha L.
Tu valoración: 2 Manhattan, NY
I used to be a huge fan as a kid!!! There were so many gift shops that sold different knick knacks. To be honest, everything here was overpriced. Elizabeth was the quickest gateway drug when it came to animé and manga simply because there weren’t many online shops offering the aforementioned around 2003. Fast forward to 2009, with different online webshops like amiami, hobbyfan, and other online Japanese knick knack shops offering better quality goods at better prices, these gift shops started to drop off like dead flies. Recently having visited Elizabeth around October 2015, I believe only four stores are now opened in contrast to the 10 plus stores that were opened around 2008. There are the following stores that I’ve remembered: 1. Supreme Store that offers streetwear clothing 2. Grumpy Man Gundam Store — I swear that man is rude and grumpy. 3. Huge Knick-Knack Store that sells bootleg shit and old Sanrio stuff circa around 2001 4. Other one or two stores that I don’t remember very well.
Stephanie C.
Tu valoración: 2 Philadelphia, PA
These set of stores used to be amazing when I was younger but now there are barely any gift shops in the basement. Things are also too expensive but they have a nice variety of stores, although I wished there were more like before
Cindy H.
Tu valoración: 3 Boston, MA
I thought the Elizabeth Center was AWESOME when I was younger. I loved the cheap keychains, pens, jewelry, and stuffed animals. Going back there at age 23, it is not so impressive. I think a lot of the items are overpriced. If you check Amazon for the same items, they may be cheaper. Also, quality is a big issue. 8⁄10 times, the pens I purchase don’t work! And some items look used and/or opened. Makes me really iffy. It may be fun to look around if you’re in the area, but definitely not worth going out of your way.
Dani S.
Tu valoración: 4 Brooklyn, NY
Omg. Went this weekend. Its pretty lively around Elizabeth Center. And yoy can’t miss it either! As others have said, yes, sadly, lots of shops have closed! Buttttt if you like animé and really cute stationary, there’s still hope! Take the escalator(?) downstairs and youll see a small shop selling animé things, and they even have EXO buttons and stuff! They have rilakkuma notebooks. I was out of money cuz I’d brought korean skincare stuff but if not, believe me, I would have come out there with full hand! If you go down the hall, theres also a store with cute pens and other stuff too! First floor has a clothing shop and a store with hair nicknacks, and jewellery. They have some skincare products and face mask. It was worth going. My pen rocks!
Jessica L.
Tu valoración: 4 Brooklyn, NY
Lots of small shops ranging from Chinese to Japanese to Korean products — a multi ethnic and cultural mall. But due to poor business, there were a couple of vacant rooms. As for some shops, due to flourishing business, they’ve moved to a bigger location not within the mall. This place is not as popular as it used to be.
Kris Y.
Manhattan, NY
I love coming here! They have all types of things in here. Ranging from things for little kids to adults. The only problem is that they are not consistent of when they open. The building itself is always accessible, but the little shops open depending on the person running it. It would be nice if they have set hours of when they open up for business. The items are crazy overpriced but that really depends on what you are buying.