Oprah & Tom Cruise's Luxury Stationer Shuts Down

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed)
May 26th 2009 at 10:02AM

Stationer Mrs. John L. Strong, one of the world's leading boutique luxury brands whose customers included Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, Vogue editor Anna Wintour, Oprah Winfrey and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, is shutting down after 80 years. The company has decided to close its Madison Avenue atelier, its boutiques, web site, catalog, wholesale and corporate businesses due to the recession, the Times reports.

Nannette Brown, the company's chief executive and creative director, said that an inability "to finance the business's expansion plans combined with a challenging retail and economic environment, left the company with no alternative but to close." Efforts to sell the company also failed. "This is a sad day for Mrs. John L. Strong," Brown said in a statement, "and a sad day for luxury as the world has become increasingly bereft of unique, hand-finished products." Indeed.

Gallery: Luxury Brands In Trouble

Tags: Anna Wintour, AnnaWintour, Madison Avenue, MadisonAvenue, Mrs. John L. Strong, Mrs.JohnL.Strong, Oprah Winfrey, OprahWinfrey, stationery, Tom Cruise, TomCruise

Filed under: Decor, Celebrity Shopping

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

Andrew May 26th 2009 8:34PM

always painful to see American institutions go down.

so now we will have to go to the British with Smythson.

April May 27th 2009 6:14AM

It's sad in a way, but is anyone really suprised that a stationery store went out of business? With the advent of cell phones and text messaging, people don't feel the need to sit down and commit their thoughts to paper! (With the possible exception of Kanye West, who just "wrote" a book with blank pages. Is this a sign that America's in trouble, or what?)

DAllen May 27th 2009 7:10AM

Maybe Miss O will now see that Mr. O is not the man she thought he was now that one of her beloved companies can't survive in the American economy that he has worked so hard to destroy in less than 6 months in office!!!!!

Phil Mohr May 27th 2009 8:01AM

Yes Dallen, Oprah will called Obama immediately to let him know that the recession,the banking crisis, and the housing bubble, all of which Obama inherited from the former president is Obama fault.She also will blame him for Bernie Madoff, Allen Stanford and the Enron scandal for good measure...

PJ Taylor May 27th 2009 9:28AM

Are you kidding me? You seriously think President Obama "created" the current economic conditions? Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Fran May 27th 2009 10:32AM

Though I'm not an Oprah worshiper/wannabe, (couldn't be farther from that) on which Planet do you live? Please tell me because I will immediately pack up what's left of my life and move there. Were you in a Coma during all of the Autumn of 2008? In fact, were you even among the living all the way back to St Reagan's Regime? Today's economic disaster can easily be traced to that aging, adle brained, syphillitic, whose "trickle down" policies trashed this Country and from which we have never fully recovered. There's a book coming out with the title "Before She Dies" that is supposed to clearly link the atrocities committed by the Reagan/Bush Regime to specific towns, Businesses, and Families across America. I suggest reading it. Don't worry, it will have before Reagan and after Reagan pictures too. So pin the blame where it belongs on Reagan/Bush/Bush, not on either of the, as you put it, "O's".

George May 27th 2009 11:39AM

Your an idiot DAllen !!

terri May 27th 2009 12:00PM

The recession started over a year ago during Jr's administration. Obama is now trying to clean up that mess along with a host of other messes left over from the worst administration in history.

Give him a chance, 8 years of incompetence takes awhile to erase.

Leo May 27th 2009 1:36PM

It's a sad day indeed, when people base their accusations on race, political affiliation, or on bias views. Wether we are democrats, republicans, or independent, we are all still Americans, and the past administration has a proven history of incompetence. After 8 years of what is known to the entire world, not just the American public as the worst American administration in history, one can't judge a new administration based on the failure of a past and idiotic administration. "Mr. O" as you so well put it has been picking up the pieces of what is left of the American economy, and other American interests. So before you judge or even decide to open your mouth and give an opinion, first read the news, get educated on the matters at hand, and stop playing this childish blame game.

Robert May 27th 2009 2:14PM

Wow.. it only took minutes for a right wing moron to blame President Obama. Amazing!

Cara May 27th 2009 5:24PM

DAllen, you hit the nail on the head. Couldnt have said it better myself. You my friend are a Great American!!

widollar May 27th 2009 7:27AM

Luxury brands throughout the world will continue to disappear as the wealthy pull back and close their wallets!

lea May 27th 2009 1:18PM

All those bigwig celebrities and they couldn't get someone to buy it? That's messed up. You would think Oprah would buy it cuz of greed or Katie Holmes would buy it to have something to do!

KidsTalkPoliticsDot Com May 27th 2009 1:02PM

Excellent point. O makes enough dough to do her own bailout. Maybe she will.

Rebecca Pidgeon May 27th 2009 2:32PM

Although disappointed to learn of the demise of any company (even when only 80 years old) which tailored towards a niche market, surely the death knell for the company was raised when Oprah Winpfrey and Tom Cruise (amongst others) were cited as customers. Not sure whether Oprah was that bad, but the company would have hit rock bottom when it became clear that poison dwarf Tom Cruise, naive spokesman of the Cult of Scientology, was a customer.

Perhaps the key learning experience for any company is that, if you want to maintain your dignity, and don't want to frighten off exclusive customers, then keep the general riff-raff and chavs out of your store.

Bob Jul 2nd 2009 3:44PM

Stop referring backk to Bush all the time! Have the balls to move on! Your just like obama, always blamiing someone. It's your congress! You stop them from stealing from you! You tell them to start buckling down & making the right choices. Remember, you have a choice to vote the people into congress & you have the choice to protest when they do wrong. No President can stop them, including obama. Who's spending all your hard earned tax money? Who's giving it all away? OBAMA!!!! Biush is histery! Obama is the is the present. He is making mistakes too!

vdog May 27th 2009 9:06AM

HIGH POST PAPER GOODBYE!!! See ya at STAPLES Tom and Oprah!!!

Compassion4all May 27th 2009 9:45AM

Both Oprah and Tom Cruise have given tremendously to the world in ways that the common man is unable to do due to lack of time and money. Obama has made many sacrifices and his contributions to man and country and the world are mind boggling. These three people are to be admired and thanked for their dedication and hard work. Nobody should put them down or anyone else due to race, color, financial status or their choices or voices and feelings. It is not their fault or responsibility to fund a failing company or to be blamed for such things. It's time for all of us to speak well of all people and stop the nastiness.