DelayWatch: Madewell "Can't Wait to See You" Tm Open!
Wednesday, February 20, 2008, by Leslie Price

2008_2_madewelldelayedsignage.jpg

As the above signage so cutely points out, Madewell—object of our affection, fascinating flagellum under our microscope—will not be opening its New York flagship at 486 Broadway and Broome to the public today as was planned. There's no reason given for the day-long delay, but an article in today's WWD gives clues as to why the place might not be ready to go. Seems as if J.Crew's head honcho Mickey Drexler wasn't ready to sign off on the interior of the place after a walk-through on Friday:

"Can we not bury the handbags?" Drexler asks, noticing they're confined to a couple of shelves and blocked by a fashion form. Then he examines the 20-foot-long denim bar. It's too high, but he likes the scope of it. On the staircase landing, there's a wall of mirrors that has to go. His biggest concern is upstairs, past the DJ booth, in an open room just beyond the "gallery" of graphic Ts and wall of crumpled scarves. "It's like you're walking into the main salon of a home and want to be blown away. But where's the exclamation point?" The merchandising is just too regimented—a short and a top, a short and a top, etc. He even pulls out a pair of shorts with a lattice pattern and asks, "Does anybody like this?"
Eeek. We're sure that the little retail elves we saw scurrying about the space this morning will be able to get the store shipshape for tomorrow, though. Or else.
UPDATE: That was fast. The sign is down, and the store is open.
· Showtime for Madewell on Broadway [WWD, subscription req]
· First Look: Inside Madewell's Soho Flagship [Racked]
· Progress Report: The Opening of Madewell's Permanent Store Draws Nigh [Racked]


Filed under Manhattan: Soho, Storecasting, Broadway, Delays, Flagship, J.crew, Madewell, Mickey Drexler

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