A CEO Responds: Bendel's President Takes Umbrage UPDATE: Or Perhaps Not?

UPDATE:

We have been notified through official channels, that the quote below was NOT, in fact, posted by Henri Bendel CEO Ed Bucciarelli.
It is comforting to know that he is not, as the quote would suggest, a blithering idiot.
In our defense, whoever decided to impersonate Mr. Bucciarelli did so in a fairly credible way, though we have to admit that we were more than a little surprised that he would have responded to our post in such a manner. Actually, we thought maybe he was drunk or something (hey, stranger things have been known to happen.) Of course, now we are wondering exactly who would want to impersonate a retail CEO in such a defensive matter, but at this point, we should probably all just move on.
Again, our apologies to Mr. Bucciarelli for unwittingly portraying him as a total douchebag.

Someone's been busy Googling.
The Shophound has certainly expressed our share of opinions about various retailers over the past couple of years –not all of them favorable by any stretch. Sometimes we get comments, but not usually from the top.
Here is Henri Bendel Pesident and CEO Ed Bucciarelli's comment about our post regarding the chain's recently announced strategy change:

I am confident that Henri Bendel will become the new Gucci.
I have art directed the most extraordinary collection of fun items for Bendel girls to enjoy. When I created the first Juicy Couture collection, my vision was very clear and precise. The success of JC is a feather in my cap as a fashion visionary within the exciting world of American fashion.

OK.
We're not looking to start any feuds here, but if his goal is to make Henri Bendel just like Juicy Couture, then there's really nothing further to discuss. Regular readers will know just how we feel about that brand (and we always thought that Juicy Couture was created by Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor, but whatever).
If his goal is making Henri Bendel the next Gucci, then we wish him the very best of luck. Nothing would please us more than to see that happen.
And we'll be watching.
Previously:
Breaking: Limited Brands To Drain Every Last Bit Of Prestige From Henri Bendel

Comments

[Raina]

His comment is hilarious in about 27 different ways.

[Billy]

This isn't the first time they are trying to expand into malls. Way back when Neiman Marcus opened at the Garden State Plaza in Paramus there was also a Henri Bendel store. It was actually a fabulous shop but it seemed irrelevant with Neimans a few doors down.

I hope I'm wrong but imagine this will be the death of the Henri Bendel brand.