Painted Tree shutdown leaves Raleigh, Cary vendors scrambling for inventory and refunds

Two Wake County Painted Tree locations left Raleigh and Cary sellers with almost no time to react after the company said it had ceased all business operations immediately and stopped retail sales at every store. Vendors at the Creedmoor Road site in Raleigh and the Cary Crossroads location were told to get their merchandise by April 24, a 10-day scramble that put inventory, rent and deposits at risk.

The shutdown hit small operators who had built their businesses around Painted Tree’s shared retail model. Marvin Kessler of Cam Distribution and Gifts said he had been paying $330 a month for space and used retirement checks to cover February, March and April rent. Amy McLamb of The Grice Gallery estimated her loss could reach about $50,000. For sellers like them, the closure did not just mean losing shelf space. It also meant trying to recover goods, reconcile sales and determine whether any money tied up in the arrangement would come back.

The uncertainty deepened because the vendor agreement WRAL obtained included conflicting language. One section said shop owners had to give 30 days written notice, while another said Painted Tree could end the agreement with five days notice. That clash left vendors facing unanswered questions about deposits, prepaid rent and what would happen to merchandise left behind. Shop owners were warned that items not picked up by the deadline could be locked up and potentially lost.

Painted Tree’s business model had been built around giving independent sellers a lower-overhead way to reach shoppers. The company said its story began in 2015 as a vintage market in Bryant, Arkansas, and it later expanded to more than 42 locations across the country. Its website said vendors sold under one roof, received monthly checks, and operated under 12-month leases that auto-renewed. The company’s FAQ said vendors could log in to see daily sales, and that Painted Tree cut a monthly check for sales minus the next month’s rent and applicable fees.

The chain’s store locator listed a Cary location at 240 Crossroads Blvd., Cary, NC 27518, underscoring how quickly the shutdown cut off a local retail outlet used by Triangle entrepreneurs. Outside coverage said more than 60 stores nationwide were affected and that the last day of business was April 13, 2026. Painted Tree said rising costs, shifting market conditions and the evolving nature of how people shop made the business unsustainable, but in Wake County the immediate effect was more concrete: local vendors suddenly had to rescue inventory, chase refunds and reset businesses built around a platform that disappeared overnight.