Well, it’s really not shocking anymore to hear about a retail store closing. Even though some labels are thriving despite an overall lack of income in the fashion industry, many others are feeling the crunch.
The latest brand to shut down a location is Juicy Couture. The company made the decision to close its ritzy spot on New York City’s legendary Madison Avenue due to high rent and low sales. Company president Edgar Huber elaborated:
“The Madison location became a neighborhood store, not a high-traffic store. It was never extremely strong for us. It’s important to have a store on Madison. It’s prestigious, but $2 million [in rent] is too high. Our average transaction is not as high as our neighbors.”
Wow. Even for a popular brand like Juicy, two million for rent has to hurt. I’m guessing that Madison Ave’s abundance of other empty stores had something to do with the decision, too.
At least the labe’s keeping its Fifth Avenue location open for now. I’d imagine it won’t vacate that one unless things are really bad. Here’s hoping that we won’t see that any time soon.
[Source: NY Mag]
[Image: katie killary/Flickr]
