Henri Bendel closing Gardens, Boca stores
Town Center Mall store opened in 2008, Gardens Mall one in 2011.
A luxury retailer in The Gardens and Town Center malls will go dark as fashion brand Henri Bendel closes all of its 23 stores.
A luxury retailer in The Gardens and Town Center malls will go dark as fashion brand Henri Bendel closes all of its 23 stores.
Henri Bendel is known for its brown-and-white striped shopping bags and cute but stylish and sophisticated purses, wallets and accessories.
The store at the Town Center Mall opened in 2008, and the one at The Gardens Mall followed in 2011.
The small store at The Gardens Mall is on the second floor near Bloomingdale’s and The Art of Shaving. In the Town Center Mall, it is in the Nordstrom wing.
Parent company L Brands Inc. said all the Henri Bendel stores will close for good in January, including the flagship store on New York’s Fifth Avenue.
The company wants to focus on larger brands with more potential for growth. Its other brands include Victoria’s Secret and its sister chain Pink, and Bath & Body Works, which also have stores in both local malls.
L Brands acquired Henri Bendel in 1985. Stock prices jumped Friday after the company announced plans to close the Henri Bendel stores in 11 states and shut down online sales after the holidays.
Henri Bendel, the man, was a women’s hat maker from Lafayette, La., who moved to New York in 1895 and began marketing to the elite when he opened a shop in Greenwich Village.
He created the hallmark brown-and-white striped shopping bag and hatbox 12 years later, according to the brand’s website.
Before Andy Warhol became a pop art icon, the company hired him as an in-house illustrator.
Bendel died in 1936.