The Shophound

Fashion In Chains: SoHo's Sol de Ibiza Gets The Lockup

Just as Greene Street's long empty spaces are starting to fill in, another independent boutique feels the sting of the economy. We have to admit that we have never paid a great deal of attention to Sol de Ibiza at no. 52, which appears to have been a perfectly nice little swim and sportswear boutique. Perhaps being too innocuous was part of its problem, because as we walked past it yesterday, we were struck by the shiny chains on the doors. Also there were the multiple notices in the windows announcing that the landord had retaken the premises and its contents, and informing the shop's owner that should she attempt to enter the premises, she would be arrested for trespassing.
Ouch!
Inside, the darkened shop appeared to be ready for business with full racks of merchandise, suspended in time until some resolution to the situation is reached.
At some point, there will probably be a very good sale there, and at the moment, its website appears to be up and running, but at the moment, Sol de Ibiza está brillando no más.
Sol de Ibiza (Official Site)

Departures: Hickey Goes Dark On Grand Street Is The Label In Danger?

We were hoping that they were tougher than that.
Soho's Hickey boutique has quietly darkened its windows and shut its doors after nearly two years, possibly as a casualty of parent corporation Hartmarx's prolonged bankruptcy proceedings earlier this year.
Now that the U.K.'s Esmerique Brands has fully acquired Hartmarx and saved its various labels, there has been something of an executive exodus not unexpected after a changing of hands. While the more traditional Hickey Freeman boutique was moved to Madison Avenue several months ago to shed its costly Fifth Avenue lease, funky younger brother Hickey remained in the Grand Street location where it had survived a messy leak that shuttered the shop for five months only a few weeks after its debut.
While we are disappointed to lose the shop, word comes that Hickey has also lost its Creative Director and Brand Manager to Rogue's Gallery and J.A. Apparel respectively.
Hickey has a unique combination of unmatched brand heritage mixed with contemporary, yet accessible styling made in traditional, American clothing factories. Unfortunately, the label's website has no new Fall goods for sale even in late August, which is not a good sign, although Bloomingdale's is featuring a page of merchandise for pre-order. We certainly hope the brand doesn't get lost in the reorganization shuffle.

8th Avenue Shutdown: Chelsea's Gerry's Abruptly Closes

Gerry's, a popular ten year old pair of men's and women's boutiques on 8^th Avenue has shut its doors with little advance notice as far as we could tell. While not quite as cutting edge as Barney's Co-op, or as sophisticated as longtime neighbor Camouflage across the street, Gerry's still filled a niche and served its neighborhood well with a strong selection of popular contemporary sportswear and denim brands, and a warm ambiance. As recently as last week, we can recall the stores being open with their usual end of season final clearance sales running. Today, however, they are gated shut, with a small notice  posted in the window thanking the Chelsea neighborhood for 10 years of business. In fact, peering through the gates we could still see a store set up for regular business, with merchandise on hangers perfectly spaced on racks, so this must have come as a surprise to more than just us.
So far we have heard no specific reasons for the closure, but we can't help remembering that Gerry's also once had a small branch on Bleecker Street that was one of the first shops sent packing a few years ago when rents there skyrocketed. Last time we checked, that space was still empty. The Chelsea stores would be a much bigger chunk of real estate to sit unoccupied for a prolonged period.

Impending Departures: Say Bye Bye To Beau Brummel

Here's yet another signpost of the current economic climate. Longtime Manhattan men's boutique Beau Brummel is finally throwing in the towel after decades in New York. Over the years, the store has occupied various locations around Manhattan both up and downtown, but in recent years consolidated its business in a single store at 347 West Broadway between Broome and Grand streets where it maintained a fully stocked bar along with its usual stock of European menswear.
That menswear is now 75% off, and may go even lower before the end arrives. So far as we know, the drinks will remain on the house.

Today In Liquidation: Bankruptcy For Best & Co. Shutters Children's Shop At Bergdorf's

It's back to the trash heap of long lost stores for Best & Co. as Connecticut based retailer which has also been operating the children's department at Bergdorf Goodman is liquidating. The company which though a series of acquisitions is now part of Toys R Us, filed a Chapter 7 petition for liquidation Friday in New Jersey.
Originally remembered as a great Fifth Avenue department store, the Best & Co. name was revived in the late '90s by Susie (the former Mrs. Tommy) Hilfiger in Greenwich, Connecticut as a high end children's store featuring luxury clothes for children, often attracting designers to make special collections. It was a natural fit to take over a leased space on Bergdorf's 7^th floor where children's clothing had been eliminated years before. The Greenwich store was precipitously shut on Saturday, and the Bergdorf's space will also close.
Hilfiger sold her company to FAO Schwarz in 2007, and Schwarz was acquired by Toys R Us last month. Presumably, the toy behemoth wanted little to do with a money-losing, exclusive specialty apparel business (can you blame them?). Bergdorf's is now listed among the company's creditors. From all reports, Toys R Us will continue operating the FAO Schwarz stores in New York and Las Vegas, but, for now, it's curtains for Best & Co.
Best & Co. Files Chapter 7 Liquidation (WWD)

Brooklyn Departures: Yoko Deveraux Folds After Times Spotlight

We have heard stories from retailers about how coverage in the Times' Critical Shopper column can add a nice boost to business, but it doesn't seem to have been enough to save Williamsburg hipster boutique Yoko Deveraux.
Only a few weeks after being showcased by Mike Albo in the Thursday Styles, The label has announced that it is folding due to its parent company's financial troubles. Perhaps Mike should have left out the part where he found the brand at a thrift shop down the street for a fraction of the price.
Putting a positive spin on things, the label is holding a "Liquidation Celebration" on its website right now at giveaway prices. The sale will open up to the Brooklyn store tomorrow through Thursday or until everything is gone including fixtures.
Get it while you can, skinny Williamsburg boys!
Discontinued: Hipster Ambassador Yoko Devereaux Shuts Down (Racked)
Critical Shopper | Yoko Devereaux: Walk a Mile in Their Droopy Cardigans (NYTimes)
Previously: Mike Albo Goes Shopping: Hipster Defense Edition

Unsurprising Announcements: Ruehl Gets The Axe

We could brag that we saw this coming, but that's not really saying too much. Frankly, we couldn't see the point of Ruehl when Abercrombie & Fitch launched the new division a few years ago, and apparently neither did much of anybody else. The parent company announced today that it would be shuttering the chain following a month of strategic review. Ruehl posted losses of $58 million last year, which would be a substantial sum for a department store chain like Saks or Neiman's, let alone a measly 29-unit specialty chain.
That leaves a choice little spot on Bleecker Street where the chain has an accessories-only location to be vacated just as the company is readying a huge new Hollister flagship in SoHo.
Conventional wisdom would have other retailers vying to take over the lease on the still-desirable street, but we are betting that Abercrombie will hold the spot for another of its nameplates, possibly Gilly Hicks, the women's intimates chain (with an imaginary history in Sydney, Australia) launched last year, whose website predictable features lots of images and a promotional video of women in and out of lingerie frolicking on the beach with mostly naked men.
Sound familiar? Don't bruise your fingers clicking over there.
Plus ça change...
A&F Decides Ruehl's Fate (WWD)
Abercrombie & Fitch to Close RUEHL Operations; Company Amends Credit Agreement (PR Newswire)
Previously: Ruehl's Days Are Numbered

And We're Done: Marc Ecko Finally Exits The Gayborhood

We were never convinced that 8^th Avenue between 17^th and 18^th Streets was a good location for the Marc Ecko Cut & Sew boutique. Nevertheless, the store hung on for a good year and a half or so. It tried its best to ingratiate itself with the Chelsea natives by advertising in HX and even selling the occasional circuit party ticket, but it never really became a hub of activity despite the physical improvements it made to the hopelessly trashy former home of Bang Bang.
Unfortunately, it was the merchandise on the shelves that didn't connect with the locals, and while one could argue that it was an alternative to Chelsea's trendiness, a quick look around would have told anyone that there were better locations to be had for a brand that used Playboy's "Girl Next Door" Kendra Wilkinson in its latest ad campaign (although, Kendra's camp appeal probably went a lot further than the label's style ...but we digress). It was no surprise to discover thanks to our friends at RACKED that the store finally closed its doors sometime this past week. Ecko has been having dodgy luck as a retailer recently. A highly touted Times Square flagship location was rented for years without ever opening. Here's hoping that his next venture gets closer to his customer and the next occupant at 147 8^th Avenue has better luck.
Marc Ecko Cut & Sew Snuffed Out in Chelsea (RACKED)
Previously: Marc Ecko Cut & Sew: A Chelsea Head-Scratcher

Departures: Happy Trails To Howdy Do

This past weekend saw the passing of anther iconic East Village store. Howdy Do was a compact corner of East 7^th Street, but its roots ran back to the freewheeling pre-gentrified days of the early '90s when the neighborhood was more drag bar than coffee bar. The brainchild of Michael Torres and Ryan Lance and their love of pop culture in its myriad forms, Howdy Do became a cherished headquarters for the media effluvia and gaudy baubles known as kitsch. The duo built their reputations as connoisseurs of collectibles at the forefront of what would become a national obsession, offering forgotten treasures like Blythe dolls, vintage books and accessories and all manner of promotional tie in products from long forgotten movies and TV shows. Looking for an original Cher doll? Here was your first stop.
After an all too familiar story of dodgy landlords and staggering rent hikes, Torres and Lance weighed their options and decided the time was right to take a break from retail life.
"We had other opportunities in the neighborhood to move the store," Torres told us last Saturday as the last of Howdy Do's goods and fixtures were being sold, and the shop was being dismantled. "We felt like this was a good time to regroup and return in a new way." The team promises to bring Howdy Do back in a new form, perhaps as a showroom catering more to stylists, designers and special customers or as whatever happens to feels right for the times.
The pair are sanguine about the inevitability of change, recalling how neighborhood regulars were rattled when they first opened in place of the popular Egg Store. "People would line up for fresh eggs every Tuesday, but we didn't push them out," they told us. In fact, the pair acquired the lease from another store whose plans fell through before it opened. Howdy Do thrived until the popularity of eBay, the changing neighborhood, and of course, the economy slowed business.
Lance and Torres will use the break to work on long postponed projects like a photo book chronicling their experiences as their nightlife alter egos Brandy Wine and Brenda A. Go-Go, regulars at the Marc Jacobs show and glamorous events all over town. Then there are the hours and hours of their hilarious, beloved and frequently tawdry Public Access television show On Patrol that chronicled a particularly vibrant moment in New York's club and fashion culture and is waiting to be repackaged for new eyes.
While Lance and Torres are full of plans for the future, nobody is quite sure what will take the newly vacant space. For East 7^th Street, however, the loss will be another symbol of an especially vivid time in the East Village's bohemian heritage.
Brandy Wine and Brenda A. Go-Go Are On Patrol (Official Site)

Ruehl's Days Are Numbered

There are many retailers who have done everything they can to respond to the current economic climate with price reductions and other promotions designed to keep customers coming back to stores and keep their sales numbers up as much as possible.
Then there's Abercrombie & Fitch.
A&F's business has nosedived a whopping 23.5% in the last quarter, sustaining a loss of $26.8 million, which is bad news by anyone's standards. They have consistently refused to reduce prices, but have not really offered much newness to customers to spark their interest. It doesn't take a genius to see what their main problem is. With an economic shift, the company has hit a wall.
As the company is about to open a lavish flagship in SoHo for its second, more successful division, Hollister, it is putting its third nameplate, Ruehl, under 'Strategic Review' according to WWD.
With a relatively small size of 28 stores including Bleecker Street's accessories-only location, Ruehl has never grown to be the success its parent had hoped for, mostly, in our humble opinion, because its merchandise offers little variation from its sibling stores, which are usually clustered together in the mall to begin with. Its same store sales have plunged a whopping 34% since last year. WWD suggests that such reviews often result in a closure or sale of the business. We would not be so bold as to make that prediction, but we wouldn't be at all surprised to see one little storefront on Bleecker become available soon.
Abercrombie Begins ‘Strategic Review’ of Ruehl (WWD)