I received an unsurprising email this morning:
Painted Tree is a chain of boutique-style “mall” shops where individual vendors rent small spaces, paying both a monthly fee and a commission on sales. I looked into joining one in Illinois in 2025, and almost immediately, the red flags started stacking up.
The location I visited had a noticeable amount of vacant space. Rent was steep, especially compared to well-established local-to-me shops like Burlap and Lace and Brown Street Emporium. And perhaps most concerning, I didn’t see much evidence that the company was doing anything meaningful to drive foot traffic. To put it in Gen Z terms, they were giving landlord rather than meaningful business partner.
The final blow to my curiosity came when I joined a vendor Facebook group. The most common question being asked was simple: “Is anyone actually covering their rent?” The overwhelming answer seemed to be no.
As the months went on, more issues surfaced. The company rolled out a new payment system, which, by most accounts, created more problems than it solved. The new dominant question became whether vendors were actually receiving payouts for their sales. At the same time, reports of shoplifting losses were widespread, often met with what sounded like little more than a shrug from management.
So, no, I can’t say I’m surprised by this latest announcement. From the outside, it had all the signs of a business struggling to stay afloat.
What I do feel, though, is for the vendors. These are people who invested not just money, but time, creativity, and heart into their spaces. Now they’re left packing up inventory and walking away from something they hoped would grow.
My hope is that they land somewhere better. Somewhere local. Somewhere invested in them, too.
I appreciated your thoughtful post. Thank you for bringing light to this situation. I rented a booth at Painted Tree a few months before they were sold to an equity company and it was great. They had monthly community events and I more than covered my rent. Then suddenly it all stopped. The staff was replaced, and they stopped paying out for sales made. I chose to believe in them and left my merchandise there over the holidays rather than putting it on Etsy or going to Holiday Craft Shows. I lost all that money because they said they had a "new system" and had issues with pay outs. I had one booth and it was a side gig, so I am not financially devastated, but I am demoralized. I appreciate your compassionate words for the vendors and I am glad you chose to stay away from Painted Tree.