I recently posted about the closing of megabrand C. Wonder. The past few weeks have brought news of three more major brands closing as we know them now: Piperlime, Kate Spade Saturday and Jones New York. Keep reading for all of the gory details.
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Piperlime, the e-commerce site launched in 2006, will be closing by the end of February. The site accounted for less than 1% of the Gap Inc’s revenue, making it the smallest brand in the company’s portfolio, which includes Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Athleta and Intermix. The e-boutique carried a number of contemporary brands from Cynthia Rowley to Elizabeth and James and worked with fashion icons such as Olivia Palermo and Rachel Zoe. Piperlime was a great online resource for when we couldn’t find sizes of jeans or shoes anywhere else. It will be missed!
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Jones New York had its heyday in the bridge section of department stores back in the nineties. Lacking in relevance for years, the private equity firm which bought Jones Group last year has decided to close the brand. Like all brands who focus on women with real bodies, at one point the brand tried to bring itself back from the grave by skewing younger. And after that didn’t work, they had to try to get their core customer back, which was not that successful. Although I haven’t bought much from the brand the last few seasons, and had wondered where they were going exactly, I utilized the brand enough that I will definitely miss them.
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Unfortunately, Kate Spade Saturday is also set to close in 2015. After only two years in the spotlight, the adorable lower-end line will be closing their stores, along with the menswear label Jack Spade, in order to focus on Kate Spade New York. The announcement seemed sudden, considering the Georgetown store has only been open a few months and the brand recently debuted a collaboration with New Balance as well as West Elm. Jack Spade will still be available online and in other retail stores. I’m not sure the company knows exactly how they will be folding the Saturday brand into the main brand so we will just have to wait and see.
