The Shophound

CAN'T PASS IT UP: DSW's Luxe810 Designer Pop-Up Goes To 90% Off

It's getting closer to the end of March, and that means that DSW's deeply discounted designer apparel pop-up shop, Luxe810 will be closing soon. As any good sample sale shopper knows, the prices get better at the end, and Luxe810's started out pretty good. Yesterday, The Shophound strolled by and noticed that the discount had been raised from 80% to 90% off.
That's 90% off, folks.
It doesn't get better than that, and it makes for easy math. Just move the decimal point on the price tag. The merchandise is not quite as abundant as it was when we discovered the shop, but there's still plenty of stuff left from the designers listed in the image above including Bottega Veneta, Roberto Cavalli and Gucci to name a few. Imagine a Ralph Lauren suit for under $150. How about a special Valentino dress for $300 or so? We aren't sure what the exact closing date of the shop is, but at these prices we don't expect it to last too much longer.

Luxe810 Pop-Up store at 408 West 14th Street between Ninth Avenue & Washington Street, Meatpacking District
Previously:
Off-Price Spring Treat: Luxe810 Pop-Up Brings DSW's Discount Apparel To The Meatpacking District

WINDS OF CHANGE: A Bad Week For Bars As Emerald Inn Gives Way To Kate Spade

It's the endless Manhattan rent story as longtime local landmarks that add charm and history to resurgent neighborhoods fall victim to the gentrification forces that they have inadvertently helped. Yesterday brought the news that the Emerald Inn, a 70 year old pub on Columbus Avenue has two more months to live after which it will be replaced by a Kate Spade store. The bar has along history of serving the West Side's celebrity locals from nearby Lincoln Center and ABC Studios and even serving as a set for one of Jack Lemmon's iconic scenes in the classic Billy Wilder comedy "The Apartment". Had the owners of the bar renewed their lease, it would have doubled from its current level, which was already at a negotiated increase from only a couple of years ago. Too much for a bar, but not for the corporately owned Kate Spade which will probably do well with Theory, Rag & Bone and Intermix only a few steps away —but what kind of scotch will they serve?

While Columbus Avenue has been gentrified decades ago, it has undergone a retail renaissance in recent years on the stretch between 72nd Street and Lincoln Center that has once again sent rents soaring. Other Irish pubs in the neighborhood are feeling the same pressure and may very likely run into the same problems, making the neighborhood pub an endangered species in the Upper West Side.

With Rent Ever Higher, Irish Pub Gives Up (City Room/NYTimes via RACKED)

COMING & GOING: Barneys Co-op Officially Closing In Chelsea, But A Downtown Flagship Could Be In the Works

As Barneys confirms that its Co-op store in Chelsea, its first outside a flagship store, will be closing after next month's Warehouse Sale, the retailer also reveals that it is actively looking for all sorts of retail opportunities in downtown Manhattan including a perennially rumored second Manhattan flagship location. According to today's WWD, a multitude of options are up in the air concerning Barneys' retail plans for New York. The Co-op on West 18th Street will close not because it is underperforming but because the lease is up and the landlord is planing extensive renovations that will require all tenants to vacate. The upcoming Warehouse Sale (no official dates yet) will be the last in the location, but it is expected to continue on in another location nearby in August or September.

What happens next remains a big question. The store's official statement to WWD is,

“While we have no immediate plans to replace the Chelsea store downtown, we believe that there remains significant opportunity for Barneys in downtown Manhattan to replace and expand upon this store closing, and our historic business, and are continuing to look at multiple real estate options for the medium to long term,”

—which could mean almost anything. A full flagship, including a Co-op department would require at least 100,000 square feet, and probably more to make the kind of statement New Yorkers expect from Barneys, which is not especially easy to find anywhere in Manhattan let alone in the kind of shopping neighborhoods where one expects to find a luxury store. A Co-op might be easier to place, and more of a priority, since this closing leaves the SoHo Co-op as the only one downtown, and that location does not include Men's apparel at all, as the Chelsea unit did.

Barneys has been in retrenchment mode over the past couple of years, shedding underperforming branch stores in both the flagship and Co-op divisions, but it remains successful in big cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. A new Manhattan store could strengthen the chain in a market where it already has an established customer base and brand loyalty —the question is exactly where it would be? It's worth noting that Barneys had established itself as a tony store on Seventh Avenue and 17th Street during the 1970s and 80s, a time when Chelsea was not yet seen as a particularly luxurious or desirable neighborhood. In fact, the store played a major role in Chelsea's gentrification. Is Barneys still daring enough to once again become a single destination in a less glamorous part of downtown Manhattan (if there are any left) or has corporate ownership made it more cautious and conservative? Hopefully, we'll find out before Chelsea has to go for too long without one of its most popular stores —and most convenient and reliably decent rest rooms.

Barneys New York Looking for Downtown Flagship? By Sharon Edelson (WWD)

THAT WAS FAST: A Gallery Bumped Rag & Bone Off Madison Avenue

So here's a surprise.
The much heralded Rag & Bone boutique at 909 Madison Avenue at 73rd Street has quietly closed. Our friends at RACKED tell us that the high-profile store, meant to be an uptown flagship for the brand, is now being prepared for a new tenant, the three level Dominique Lévy gallery.

Why the short lease for such a prominent store? Co-founder David Neville told Racked that the store only had a one-year Pop-Up lease and was always intended to be temporary.
Really?
Funny how that detail was never released in the copious amounts of press coverage that accompanied the store's opening a year ago. for the record, it certainly didn't look like a pop-up, but those terms has become much more fluid lately. For example, Christian Dior's "temporary" men's store in SoHo recently became permanent —to the surprise of just about nobody. Perhaps this was the same situation in reverse in which case the lease was intended to be extended if the store performed well enough. It's hard to imagine that the company, which just received major new investment this month, is in any sort of trouble, since it is rapidly expanding its retail network all over the country and remains a favorite in stores. In fact, according to Neville, the brand is still looking for a permanent spot in the Madison Avenue area.

Rag & Bone on Madison Avenue Mysteriously Shutters (RACKED NY)

RUMOR MILL: Is Barneys' Co-op In Chelsea Ready To Pack It In?

Is it the end for Barney's Co-op in Chelsea? The New York Post and Racked are reporting on rumors that once this season's warehouse sale is over, the branch will not re-open to resume its normal activity as it has in season's past. Of course these speculations have been followed by trails of comments on Racked from those who claim to have known this for months, but rumors about Barneys have been unreliable in general in recent years, including some which emphatically insisting that the Warehouse Sale was being phased out, or that there were imminent plans for a new, full line Barneys store in the Meatpacking District.

What happens to the Chelsea Co-op remains to be seen. If our memory serves, it was the first location opened when Barneys decided to expand the Co-op brand from its denim and contemporary departments to its own offshoot chain. At the time, it was heralded as a return to Chelsea for the retailer which only a few years earlier was forced to close its original flagship store about a block away at the corner of Seventh Avenue and Seventeenth Street. Since then, it may have been eclipsed by a busier women's only units in SoHo, and an expansive two-level version in Cobble Hill, but it has always seemed to serve its sophisticated Chelsea and West Village clients well despite having to shut down for weeks at a time to host the Warehouse sale.
Barney's current management has not shown themselves to be particularly sentimental about the store's past, so it is not entirely unbelievable that the store might be shuttered, but that would leave a few questions such as: Would it be moved to a newer, more favorable location like the nearby Meatpacking District? What would happen to the Warehouse Sale? Would it move to a better location with more room, and would it still have such a conveniently accessible rest room?

The Warehouse Sale typically happens about a month from now —in fact, an announcement should be coming any day now. As for the fate of the Chelsea store, Barneys management isn't commenting. Make of that what you will.

A thread thrashin’ (NYPost second item via Racked)

GOING, GOING GONE: Rugby's Final Countdown

There are only days left for Ralph Lauren's RUGBY location on Bleecker Street. The Shophound overheard staffers tell weekend customers that the tiny shop would shutter by Wednesday, and any remaining merchandise would be transferred to the bigger University Place store set to close by the beginning of February. It's hard to imagine either store lasting too much longer, as shoppers have already nearly stripped the shelves of both stores bare thanks to the storewide 40% off promotion designed to clear out the defunct label's goods.

It's been a tough 12 months for America's most popular (and biggest) designer as Lauren has folded not only the Rugby brand, but also the heavily advertised American Living label developed for JC Penney (before it morphed into the updated jcp). Perhaps it was that massive loss of business that forced the demise of the still-finding-its-footing Rugby, or perhaps the younger skewing label was cannibalized by Lauren's own, more mainstream Denim & Supply brand that appeared in force at Macy's earlier last year. Art any rate, even mighty Ralph Lauren appears to have some limits, but don't count on the Rugby brand completely disappearing forever. History shows that Lauren's organization has never met a trademark it couldn't find continued use for. It took nearly 15 years for the Double RL label to find its groove, going from a more popular priced vintage inspired line to a premium denim brand before finally flourishing as a nostalgic "Boardwalk Empire" era-inspired workwear line. Even the decades old Chaps diffusion label found a new life as a Kohl's exclusive brand, so don't be surprised if Rugby miraculously finds a new life somewhere else once the dust settles and it has had a little rest. In the meantime, get 40% off anything left at Rugby, including already marked down items, which gives you a pretty good deal on souvenirs from a soon to be extinct label.

RUGBY (Official Site)

CANCELED AT HALFTIME: Ralph Lauren's Rugby Chain To Shutter

Buried in a report on the Ralph Lauren Corp's second quarter earnings comes the news that the designer's budding collegiate sportswear chain Rugby would be folded early next year "in order to focus resources on higher growth, more scalable global opportunities with the core Ralph Lauren brand," according to WWD.com. Sometimes it seems that America's biggest designer is unstoppable, targeting every possible demographic category with an abundance of product, but recent months have shown us that there is a limit to just how much Ralph Lauren product the world at large is willing to consume. This news follow the discontinuing earlier this year of the designer's American Living brand at J.C. Penney stores.

It turns out that the younger, college and post-college aged customers that Rugby courted were not as interested in the trimmed down preppy classics that were offered, or perhaps the stores were simply seen as duplicating merchandise that was already widely available under the vast assortments of the Polo label among the many other Ralph Lauren brands. For whatever reason, Rugby never quite took off. 14 remaining Rugby stores and the related e-commerce website will be closed during the company's fiscal 2013, which we interpret as over the next several months by February 2nd, 2013, so any fans out there will still have a bit of time to stock up on fitted, pony-free oxford shirts while they last.

Ralph Lauren Posts Better Than Expected Q2 Results (WWD.com)

GOING, GOING, GONE: Gilt Groupe's PARK & BOND To Go Dark After Holidays

Fans of men's online retailer Park & Bond have only a few more months to shop. Owner Gilt Groupe has decided that after little more than a year, the site will close at the end of the current season. A departure from Gilt's popular off-price flash sale model, Park & Bond has been an attempt to shift the retailer's designer discount customers into current season full-price shopping. The site met with some success, racking up sales of $10 million in its first year, but in its third season, had not yet reached profitability. It isn't know if it was even expected to be profitable yet, but Gilt Groupe as a whole has been streamlining its operations over the year including the high profile losses of Park & Bond's President John Auerbach, its style director Josh Peskowitz who decamped for the Men's Fashion Director post at Bloomingdale's and fashion adviser Nick Wooster, who left for J.C.Penney.

Some elements of the site like exclusive or basic items will be folded into the regular Gilt Man offerings, but otherwise, the customers it did attract will probably have to satisfy themselves with Mr. Porter which launched around the same time and, let's be honest, carries many if not most of the same labels. Call it survival of the fittest, if you want.

Gilt Groupe to Shutter Park & Bond Site (WWD)

UNSCHEDULED DEPARTURE: Bleecker Street's Women's Rugby Store Gets Abruptly Shuttered

Here's a surprise. According to our friends at Racked, Ralph Lauren's Women's Rugby store on Bleecker Street up and left the other night after less than a year of being open. Apparently, without any notice, the store was emptied overnight leaving little but a "For Rent" sign in the window. The Men's Rugby down the street remains open as well as the larger University Place flagship. An employee at the men's Bleecker location revealed that the store was closed due to "issues with the landlord", which begs the question, what kind of landlord gets into a bitter dispute with Polo Ralph Lauren Retail? Aren't they the kind of tenant you look for? The kind with deep pockets?

Anyway, we don't know if the women's merchandise has been crammed into the Men's Rugby down the street, which would make it a hell of a crowded little store. It was only last September that the store opened after having been converted from a Ralph Lauren children's store in an event that we can low look back on as The Great RRL Bleecker Street Reshuffling of 2011. Now, Lauren has only three retail outlets on Bleecker, but there's a nice empty store available for someone who is not afraid of potential "landlord issues".

Rugby's West Village Women's Store Closed Overnight (Racked)
Previously:
CHAIN GANG: Ralph Lauren's Rugby Stores Are Open On Bleecker Street (9/9/2011)

OVER AND OUT: Daffy's Calls It Quits

Another longtime New York off-price chain will be gone from the scene by the end of Autumn as the 19-unit retailer decided to liquidate its stores without filing for bankruptcy. We would hesitate to call Daffy's a local favorite, since in recent years it has been largely ignored by customers in favor of the behemoth of TJX which has barreled into town with renewed force lately with new Marshall's, Home Goods and TJMaxx locations. The effectively knocked out Syms and Filene's Basement earlier this year.

Still, Daffy's remained a prominent player thanks to some desirable locations on 57th Street, in SoHo, Times Square and the Flatiron District among others. By not filing bankruptcy, Chairman and CEO Marcia Wilson will retain control over the valuable sites that the store owns which it might have lost by filing Chapter 11. Attempts to turn around the chain's fortunes were in question in the past few months as vendors were told that recent invoices would not be paid and buyers were placed on forced vacations. That's usually a clear hint that things are going south. A liquidation firm has been retained to hold final sales which are expected "shortly", so get ready to see swarms of customers who haven't been in a Daffy's in years to descend. While The Shophound hasn't bought anything there in ages, we will always remember Daffy's for the perfect pair of J.M. Weston shoes we randomly found there one day for a tiny fraction of their retail price. It's a sad off-pricer that hasn't offered at least a one or two great bargains in its time, and that day, Daffy's came through.

Daffy's Says Good-Bye (WWD)