Monday, January 8, 2024

The J. Crew men's concept store on the Bowery has closed

After nearly 15 months on the SW corner of the Bowery and Bleecker, the bespoke J. Crew men's shop has closed... [Update: Sources said that this was only supposed to be a short-term deal.]
The shop arrived to lots of hoopla in September 2022, ushering in a new era for the brand. In 2021, J. Crew hired Brendon Babenzien — former Supreme design director — to be the creative director. He debuted/celebrated his first collection in September 2022 at a party at Jean's on Lafayette, featuring a 7-song set by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.  

Per J. Crew at the time, this location was "a new men’s concept store featuring a curated collection of J.Crew menswear, vintage finds including art and furniture, plus coffee from Urban Backyard." 

There were signs of trouble in August when the store was closed for several weeks due to "technical difficulties" (no customers?). The space eventually reopened, though without the coffee service. (Anyway, Think Coffee is right across Bleecker.)

A lot of money went into renovating this space (not including the 24/7 security detail hired to prevent people from tagging the 316 Bowery storefront) that had been a string of restaurants through the years, most recently Saxon + Parole.

Meanwhile, it's not all bad news for the brand: a J. Crew is opening nearby on Bond and Lafayette this year. 

5 comments:

  1. Are we surprised? I called this months ago in a previous post where I forecasted an imminent closure.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I guess it wasn't a good concept.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Called it before it even opened. And they have a new location opening around Crosby and like the article mentions one of Bond. J. Crew, just like Banana Republic - IMO - are failing. They're searching for a way to revitalize but it's a struggle.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I was once a patron of J Crew. Yet, I haven't shopped in there for maybe five years? The clothing is just boring and repetitive, at least for men. They need to sell a lot of overpriced shirts and sweaters to make rent. Their business model needs an upgrade. The closure of this location was obvious to all of us.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Loved this concept and store was a frequent visitor when i was in NYC at rhe Bowery
    Bought many many things there as recently as November sorry to see it gone 😩

    ReplyDelete

Your remarks and lively debates are welcome, whether supportive or critical of the views herein. Your articulate, well-informed remarks that are relevant to an article are welcome.

However, commentary that is intended to "flame" or attack, that contains violence, racist comments and potential libel will not be published. Facts are helpful.

If you'd like to make personal attacks and libelous claims against people and businesses, then you may do so on your own social media accounts. Also, comments predicting when a new business will close ("I give it six weeks") will not be approved.