Paul Stuart to Relocate Chicago Retailer to Michigan Avenue

Paul Stuart is on the transfer in Chicago.

The venerable New York-based menswear retailer is relocating its retailer on Oak Avenue and can return to the town’s famed Michigan Avenue.

A two-level, 5,250-square-foot retailer at 822 North Michigan Avenue is predicted to open within the first quarter of subsequent yr at which level Oak Avenue will shut.

The brand new retailer is in a primary nook location, near Canada Goose, Bottega Veneta, Ralph Lauren and the RL Restaurant, that firm’s first eating location.

“We discovered a spot that we expect can be good,” stated Trevor Shimpfky, president and chief government officer of Paul Stuart. “It’s on a nook and could have unbelievable home windows on North Michigan and East Pearson.”

For greater than a decade, Paul Stuart had operated a retailer within the John Hancock Middle on Michigan Avenue however that closed in 2008 when its lease expired. The retailer moved to Oak Avenue the next yr and in 2011, opened a second unit on LaSalle Avenue within the Loop.

“However we had been developing on the expiration of our lease on LaSalle and that retailer was utterly destroyed throughout COVID-19,” Shimpfky stated, throughout an incident of theft, and the choice was made to focus completely on Oak Avenue. “The neighborhood round LaSalle is a really particular enterprise district and we knew it could take time to get better,” he defined. “So we had been pressured with a call when everybody was tightening their belts popping out of COVID-19 and we determined to make a go of it with one retailer on Oak Avenue.”

However the lure of Michigan Avenue remained.

Shimpfky stated the corporate began in search of areas earlier this yr and was lastly capable of safe the brand new area.

“It’s going to be nice for us,” he stated. “It has a floor ground and a mezzanine and we are going to create a gorgeous, well-lit retailer.” He stated that on the East Pearson facet of the area, the place it’s uncovered to the road, he’ll set up a tailor store so passersby can see the craftspeople in motion. “They’ll be on full show,” he stated.

He stated the brand new area can be bigger than Oak Avenue, which is 4,000 sq. toes with just one window. “Oak Avenue is in a cute city home, however this has 20 p.c extra sq. footage and a greater format.”

Shimpfky stated Paul Stuart has traditionally carried out effectively in Chicago and expects that the shoppers who had shopped on Oak Avenue can be retained after the transfer.

“And we’ll get new visitors,” he stated, including that he believes it should additionally attraction to a youthful era which can be on the road procuring at Canada Goose or Ralph Lauren. “We’re actually bullish on new buyer acquisition on this location,” he stated.

“We really feel this new retailer will signify our clothes and model in an elevated method,” added Aslihan Danisman, vp of digital and buyer relationship administration. She stated the autumn ’23 line is “a turning level for us,” with an expanded sportswear providing and a “subtle, trendy, stylish luxurious” aesthetic that can be showcased effectively within the new area.

Paul Stuart was based in 1938 by Ralph Ostrove and operates a flagship on Madison Avenue in New York in addition to branches in Southampton, N.Y., and Washington, D.C. There may be additionally a clearance retailer throughout the road from the flagship. The retailer additionally operates 80 shops-in-shop and near 500 corners in Japan. Since 2012, the corporate has been owned by Mitsui, the corporate’s longtime Japanese licensee, which bought it from the founding household.