The retail industry is being transformed by the COVID-19 crisis, with legends of luxury fashion struggling to stay afloat. In the wake of Neiman Marcus filing for bankruptcy and Opening Ceremony shuttering for good, Nordstrom has announced that all three Jeffrey stores will be permanently closing. Nordstrom purchased the Jeffrey brand from Jeffrey Kalinsky, the stores’ founder, in 2005 and brought Kalinsky on board at the department store to help shape its high-end fashion category as executive vice president of designer merchandising and designer fashion director. Kalinsky will also be retiring from Nordstrom with the closure of his namesake stores.
As a retailer, Kalinsky was nothing short of visionary. He opened his first store in his native Atlanta but gained success in New York, where he transformed the Meatpacking District with his Jeffrey store on West 14th Street. Opening in 1999, the store was one of the first designer boutiques in the area, then still home to meat distributors and nightclubs. Where Kalinsky went high fashion followed, and in the years since, the westernmost stretch of 14th Street has hosted stores from Alexander McQueen to Stella McCartney, Moschino, and Diane von Furstenberg.
The New York outpost of Jeffrey not only transformed retail for its location but also for how products were displayed. If the mood at Bergdorf Goodman was plush and posh and at Barneys New York it was edgy and esoteric, the vibe at Jeffrey was that of an art gallery, with a clean open floor plan and minimal decor. “I don’t like anything to distract from the merchandise,” Kalinsky told Vogue when he opened his third location in Palo Alto in 2018. “We are very much a white store where the merchandise becomes the art.” As such, there was little to distract from his exacting edits of luxury fashion, where Balenciaga, Gucci, Prada, and Dries Van Noten were given key displays.
“Nordstrom has been an incredible partner to me and to the Jeffrey brand,” Kalinsky said in an official release about the closures. “While I’m disappointed in their decision to close Jeffrey stores, I understand it is the right decision for the business given the circumstances of this global crisis. I’m grateful for the tremendous support Nordstrom has shown me over the years and the contributions they’ve made in growing the Jeffrey brand. I’ve formed meaningful friendships with so many people at Nordstrom, and I wish them nothing but continued success.”
The decision on Nordstrom’s part to close the three Jeffrey boutiques follows the permanent closure of 16 Nordstrom stores across the United States as a cost-saving measure to balance losses as a result of COVID-19. “Jeffrey is an icon in the fashion industry, and in his years at Nordstrom he brought tremendous creativity, innovation, and expertise that have been invaluable to us as we’ve worked to establish and expand our designer offering,” wrote Pete Nordstrom, the president and chief brand officer of Nordstrom. “We’re grateful for his leadership and many contributions to the company. We’ll miss him greatly and wish him all the best.”
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May 19, 2020 at 04:27AM
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Another Retail Goodbye: Jeffrey Stores Close Permanently - Vogue
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