stores

J.Crew Opens Madison Avenue Men's Shop

by Michael B. Dougherty (RSS feed) —

Under gray skies and the first honest wisps of fall, J.Crew unveiled its latest Men's Shop on Madison Avenue in New York City.

For a brand whose rep has been synonymous with rep stripes, wide wale corduroy and the Ivy League uniform, it's surprising that it took J.Crew this long to arrive in the neighborhood, since the Upper East Side is certainly the nexus of all that. Located on the corner of 79th Street, in a space formally occupied by a bank, the store is in many ways the apogee of J.Crew's recent menswear translation of preppy as Nantucket by way of Japan. The shop itself feels like an Alpine lodge, with knotty pine wood paneling covering walls, floor and seemingly everything else. Populate that with Quoddy boots, Barbour jackets, and lots and lots of plaid, and you've got what amounts to catnip for fans of the trad, Americana, or workwear look (whichever you prefer).

Some might choose the slightly pejorative "urban woodsman" though, and you can't really blame them. The trend metastasized to the point of self-parody, what with all those bearded 20-somethings head-to-toe in buffalo plaid, buying $250 axes and signing up for butchering classes. But you have to commend J.Crew, and head menswear designer Frank Muytjens, for navigating it without lingering to the point of definition. This fall season seems to be more about celebrating classic looks, classic brands-and as expressed by this new store-creating a shopping experience with some style and relaxed refinement (none of which you're going to find at American Apparel). And they do, balancing out the aforementioned ruggedness with Thomas Mason spread collar shirts and cashmere navy suits, both exclusive to this location.

Tags: J.Crew, Madison Avenue, mens fashion, menswear, new york city, stores

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Tod's Revamps Chic Saint Tropez Boutique

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel

Famed luxury goods firm Tod's has re-designed its chic boutique in St. Tropez with a new "Home Concept" celebrating the luxe Italian lifestyle. Tod's has recently renovated many of its important global flagship boutiques from refined, clean-cut sales floors to a more contemporary, comfortable and warm retail atmosphere, complete with special vintage furniture and unique decorative pieces. The spaces are designed so that upon entering you feel as if you are walking into a close friend's or family's inviting yet impeccable home. No two Tod's boutiques will be furnished with the same pieces, mirroring the group's ethos and selection of finest handcrafted Italian leather goods and ready to wear items. The Tod's "Home Concept" features renowned Elliott Erwitt portraits, handmade precious carpets and distressed oak paneled accents, juxtaposed with bookshelves and open closets that sit seamlessly alongside furniture by some of the 20th century's most outstanding designers including Parisi, Redaelli and Ulrich.

Tags: boutique, Elliott Erwitt, France, Italy, leather, Saint Tropez, St. Tropez, stores, Tods

Harrods to Open in Shanghai?

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel

Following its $2.2 billion acquisition by Qatar's royal family in May, luxe landmark London department store Harrods is planning an expansion, starting with a new branch in Shanghai. Harrods, the largest and one of the most luxurious stores in the world, holds royal warrants from the likes of the Queen, the Queen Mother and the Prince of Wales. Its new owners have looked at various new locations and China seems to be winning out. "There are other areas of the world where we could operate profitably," Harrods' CEO Michael Ward tells Vogue UK. "China is the most probable but we would have to do a lot of work first." The number of Chinese visitors to the store is up 125 per cent this year, with an average spend of triple that of a U.S. customer.

Tags: China, department store, Harrods, London, Qatar, Queen of England, royal warrant, Shanghai, stores

Ferrari Store Opens in New York City

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

Having any sort of car in New York City is a luxury in itself for many Manhattanites; having a Ferrari is the ultimate indulgence. That doesn't mean plenty of people don't want a piece of that prancing horse magic. Hence the opening of a new Ferrari Store in midtown Manhattan the other day, next to the Ferrari showroom at Park Avenue and 55th Street. For the opening event Ferrari had a 1959 250 California, 1984 288 GTO, a 458 Italia, a 612 Scaglieti and a 599 GTO on display at the boutique which stocks a wide range of Ferrari clothing and accessories. Designed by Italian architecture and design firm Studio Iosa Ghini, the space is meant to evoke the speed of a Formula One car. A white glass front wall lures passersby with videos and graphic panels, allowing clear views to the entrancing interior.

[via LuxuryLaunches]

Tags: boutique, clothing, Ferrari, Formula One, Manhattan, New York City, Park Avenue, stores

Movado To Shut Down Retail Watch Boutiques

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

American owned watch maker group Movado, will permanently shut down all of its Movado brand watch store boutiques in the US. There are under 20 Movado boutiques in the US - each located in mostly high population areas or large cities. Movado watches will still be sold by independent third party retailers. The Movado boutiques, which sold watches as well as Movado jewelry were apparently not seeing sales nearly on par with corporate expectations. Having personally entered a few, I can't help but blame unqualified, under-trained employees for at least some of the problems.

While Movado hasn't done spectacularly over the last few years, they haven't seemed to do worse that other competitor watch brands that have equally been hit by the 'tragically bad for luxury items' recession. Movado group seems to site a lack of overall profitability recently, and sees the closure of its boutique store division as a serious help in moving back towards profitability. Not all is lost though, Movado will retain one boutique store as its flagship retail location, the Movado boutique in Rockefeller Center in New York City. Most of the Movado outlet stores will remain in operation. In addition to Movado, the group also makes and markets ESQ and Ebel watch brands. Most famous for making the Museum Face Watch one of the most iconic timepieces around, the last few years have arguably seen some of Movado's strongest product offerings in years. Movado will place most of its efforts on its wholesale business, so consumers looking for Movado watches will simply go to one of their many authorized dealers.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: boutiques, closes, closure, Movado, shuts down, store closings, stores

Antwerp Super-Concept Shops - A Little of Everything You Love

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Ra's office, in what I can only describe as a Smurf house.

As Antwerp, Belgium continues to make its name in the fashion and art scenes, "super-concept" stores have emerged. These stores include everything from art galleries to organic cafes, vintage shopping and a selection of wares to wear from various designers. Basically, they're like smaller, hipstery versions of department stores -- and they're a lot more fabulous to be spotted in.

One of these spaces I visited was Ra, at Kloosterstraat 13. Ra has an 800 square meter space with an internet cafe, a bookshop reminiscent of what you'd find in a museum, an open art installation space with the latest exhibition, a kitchen serving a full menu of healthy food (the kind I like to call "aggressively healthy," like carrot soups and tofu), some antiques and two floors of carefully curated designer clothing, shoes, jewelry and other accessories, including some one-of-a-kind pieces from emerging designers. Catching on? Super-concept shops accommodate pretty much everything people of certain lifestyles want. They're one-stop-shops for their target demographic; and the kind of place you could spend a whole Saturday without getting bored.

Another super-concept venue I visited was Hospital, a scrap metal dealer's warehouse-turned-boutique. They have an art space, fabulous clothing for sale and a restored vintage car -- also for sale. I dined at the adjoining restaurant and wine bar The Glorious, which was glorious (see gallery for mouth-watering pictures), and mingled with a completely different crowd from the Ra-goers (Hospital is a posher, deliciously more pretentious scene).

Obviously, this idea is brilliant.

Gallery: Super-Concept Stores in Antwerp

Tags: antwerp, antwerp stores, belgium shopping, belgium stores, department stores, ra, shopping, stores, super concept stores, super-concept stores

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The Never-Ending Going-Out-Of-Business Sale

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Jewelry

Plenty of jewelry stores have closed down in the past year and many have been holding going-out-of-business sales. But one Ohio chain has been pushing their sales a little bit too long. International Diamond and Gold has been running these sales for six months but was recently ordered by an Ohio court to stop.

The company has eight stores, four in Ohio and announced it was closing in May. The endless sales have been deemed unfair to consumers especially after it was learned that International Diamond and Gold was supplementing its inventory during the sales. The stores will officially be closing by the end of the year.

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Tags: going out of business sale, GoingOutOfBusinessSale, international gold and diamonds, InternationalGoldAndDiamonds, stores

Department Stores Stock The Aisles With Fewer Items

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

For those still out shopping last winter, department stores represented a rare opportunity, tons of inventory marked deeply down. Don't expect that magic to happen again. More and more stores are announcing that they are reducing inventory so as not to be left holding the bag if shoppers fail to show up. Saks CEO, Stephen Sadove tells Bloomberg that "across the board you are going to find less of the sizes, less of the availability in almost all of the categories." He also says that markdowns won't be as dramatic as they were last year. While in previous years the buzzword was "masstige" offering luxury for everyone now Sadove says that "luxury has always been about scarcity."

The ripple effect of department stores cutting back inventory has already made it increasingly hard for some designer labels to survive. Neiman Marcus and Saks have both said they are cutting back on lines that don't sell well and linger on the racks. And the recession also seems to be stifling creativity a bit. Stores are looking for staples, classics and safe bets to stock their stores. The avant-garde, trendy and daring is too risky if there are fears that it won't sell. Brands are making one or two versions of a particular style rather than a wider range. Retail sales are expected to rise slightly by the end of this year but it won't be enough to make up for last year's sharp losses.

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Tags: department stores, DepartmentStores, luxury, saks fifth avenue, SaksFifthAvenue, stores

Hermes Reports Profit, Raises Dividend

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Some luxury brands may not be doing well but Hermes is still doing a brisk business in Birkin bags. Its reported profit beat analysts' estimates and the French brand even raised its dividend. The company's net income for 2008 rose less to 290.2 million euros beating an estimate of 287.5 million euros which was the estimate by 12 analysts compiled by Bloomberg News. It will pay a dividend of 1.03 euros a share versus last year's 1 euro.

While most stores have had a rough start to the new year, Hermes found that sales in the company's own stores rose in January and February. The confident CEO Patrick Thomas told Bloomberg that the company won't change its strategy and plans to continue opening new stores.

It's been a challenge to predict which luxury brands will do well. Some such as LVMH, the owner of Louis Vuitton and PPR, the owner of Gucci have both seen the luxury market remain solid but Bulgari saw a huge drop. Hermes has expanded less rapidly than some brands but it has maintained its prestige level.

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Tags: hermes, luxury, profit, stores

Zales To Close 115 Stores

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Jewelry

Big jewelry chains are struggling. We've seen Fortunoff head for liquidation and now Zale Corp. has announced that it will close 115 under-performing stores after posting a net loss for its fiscal second quarter. It had a loss of $23.5 million down from a profit of $60.8 million for the same time period last year. Sales were down 17.9 percent from a year ago. Zales plans to cut $175 million from its budget through cost and inventory reductions and is eliminating 245 jobs. Zales has been suffering in an economy that is being particularly unkind to jewelry sales. Also in order to attract buyers, Zales cut prices and the discounts led to a drop in gross margin.

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Tags: diamonds, jewelry, stores, zales

Halle Berry Shops at Sabrina Sky and So Should You

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Celebrity Shopping, Children

Halle Berry was recently spotted at Sabrina Sky in Scottsdale, Arizona, shopping for her baby Nahla.

Sabrina Sky is an edgy children's clothing and accessories store with lines such as Juicy Couture Baby, Ed Hardy, True Religion, Joes Jeans and Harajuku Lovers. The store is truly one-of-a kind - there's a life-sized dollhouse in there!

So what did Halle Berry buy, you ask? A Stripe Plum Tunic by SpenldidLeather, a Diaper Bag by Christine Price, and a onezie by Childish Pegasus

The store was created by Angela Clervoix (wife of record producer Sha Money XL), and named for her daughter, whom she sadly lost to SIDS in 2005.

For more information, or to shop, visit the Sabrina Sky website!

Tags: angela clervoix, AngelaClervoix, celebrity, childrens clothing, ChildrensClothing, halle berry, nahla, sabrina sky, sha money XL, stores

Vera Wang Opens a New Store in Soho, NYC

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Decor, Dining, Handbags, Events

Vera Wang & Arthur Becker, Alejandro Santo Domingo, Anne & Mario Grauso, Brian Atwood, Debbie Bancroft, Diane von Furstenberg, Donna Karan, Eleanor & Jon Ylvisaker, Fern Mallis, Gigi Mortimer, Helen Lee & Tim Schifter, Kimberly Kravis, Lakshmi Menon, Marina Rust & Ian Connor, Melania & Donald Trump, Nate Berkus, Ralph & Ricky Lauren, Roopal Patel, Samantha Boardman & Aby Rosen, Somers Farkas, Steven Kolb, and Veronica Webb were all in attendance last Thursday at the opening of Vera Wang's new boutique in Soho.

While we all know Vera Wang is unmatched in bridal apparel, she is also making fragrance and beauty-related products (Coty Prestige, Inc.), eyewear (Couteur Designs, a division of the Kenmark Group), china, crystal, silver and gifts (Wedgwood), Vera Wang suite (Halekulani Hotel), fine papers (William Arthur), mattresses (Serta Mattress Company), Lavender Label handbags (Accessory Network) and Lavender Label shoes (Brown Shoe).

Her ready to wear designs and more are available for browsing in person at the new Vera Wang Fashion Flagship, located at 158 Mercer Street, 212-382-2184.

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Tags: flagship, mercer, new york, new york city, ny, nyc, soho, store, stores, vera wang, VeraWang

Iradj Moini in Soho

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Jewelry

Iradj Moini, a former couture designer for Oscar de la Renta, makes some of the most exquisite and unusual jewelry we've seen this millennium.

As you shop in NYC's Soho neighborhood this holiday season, be sure and stop by the Spring Street boutique (198 Spring, near Sullivan). The boutique has been open since Spring 2007, and feels like an art gallery. You won't believe you're looking at new pieces, released seasonally, and not well-kept relics of the 1920's.

If you're not in NY, you can also browse a number of Iradj Moini's items at Domont Jewelry, a West Hollywood, CA jewelry dealer with an exceptional selection of Iradj Moini on display their website.

Almost every piece is stunning, and worth a look if only for inspiration.

Tags: boutique, boutiques, brooch, brooches, domont, domont jewelry, iradj, iradj moini, jewelry, jewelry designers, JewelryDesigners, moini, new york, new york city, NewYork, ny, nyc, scarab, shop, shopping, shops, soho, store, stores

Neiman Marcus, Nordstorm and Saks Prepare For Rough Times

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

The news isn't good for luxury department stores lately. Both Neiman Marcus and Saks have reported that same-store sales fell by double digits last month, numbers that are, as the Dallas Morning News Reports, reminiscent of the post-9/11 declines in 2001 and 2002. Neiman Marcus had a drop of 12.9 percent last month (Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman stores had a 15.8 percent drop but the Neiman Marcus Direct catalog and online business had a 5.3 percent increase). Saks saw same-store sales fall by 10.9 percent. Both companies also have said they don't expect things to get any better soon, they are predicting weaker sales for the rest of the year. Nordstrom is also suffering with a 9.6 percent decline in September same-store sales. The good news for consumers is that sales will start earlier than usual and discounts will be deeper during the upcoming holiday season. For these three stores especially, it is the return shopper that will sustain them. I predict that these loyal customers will most assiduously courted by the stores with free gifts, deep discounts and other enticements over the coming months so now might be a good time to sign-up for their email alert lists.

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Tags: neiman marcus, nordstorm, retail, saks, stores

Can Talbots Survive?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Talbots, the preppy store with the red door, is fighting for relevance in the fashion market. The chain, which has always focused on classic fashion that skews a bit older, is looking to stay afloat at a time when retailers are facing major challenges. WWD reports on the company's three-year program. Talbots is planning to stay the course in terms of their take on classic clothing but they will also have an increased focus on large sizes offering both "boutiques" of large size offerings in their regular stores and additional Talbons Woman stores. They will also launch a premium outlet concept this year. The store has shut down their men's and children's divisions honing their focus on women's fashion.

It's an uphill climb for Talbots, which also owns the J. Jill brand. J. Jill generally attracts customers in their late forties and the Talbots average customer is in their fifties. Part of the challenge it seems is that younger women aren't turning to Talbots as they age. I think that there has been a fundamental shift in which women in their 30s and 40s find themselves to still be interested in fashion and current styles and continue to be drawn to department stores which offer clothing from a wide variety of current designers.

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Tags: economy, expire-images:2009-4-2, retail, stores, talbots