Tuesday, January 6, 2015

No Longer a Mystery - C. Wonder Shutting Down Completely

Typical interior of a C. Wonder retail store
Once hip chain closing all locations New York-based

C. Wonder will soon close its remaining twelve retail locations as it winds down operations.  Word got out in November the chain would be closing most of their stores to "transition into a wholesale brand," but apparently that plan failed to materialize, and the chain will instead discontinue operations entirely.  Locally, C. Wonder locations in Lenox Square and an outlet at the Outlet Shoppes at Atlanta in Woodstock have already closed.  Today, a location that had been open at Avalon in Alpharetta for about 90 days will also close.

A C. Wonder spokesperson furnished the following statement regarding the closure:

"Due to the highly competetive nature of the current retail environment, C. Wonder will be closing its remaining retail stores.  The Company continues to evaluate its best alternative to maintain the C. Wonder experience for its customers."

Twelve locations in malls and lifestyle centers around the country will close while three international locations will reportedly remain open for now. The three international locations, two in Dubai and one in Kuwait, are operated via a partnership and may for now have escaped the company's domestic troubles.

Among the domestic closures are the chain's flagship locations in SoHo  and The Shops at Columbus Circle, both in New York.  The Mall at Millenia in Orlando also had a C. Wonder store as did Fashion Island in Newport Beach, California, and King Street in Charleston. These suddenly vacant spaces in high profile shopping areas will surely be desirable to brands looking to expand domestically.  (Lucy, TopShop and UNIQULO to name a few.)

C. Wonder was launched in 2011 by Chris Burch, serial entreprenuer and ex-husband of style icon Tory Burch.  The chain hired employees from the likes of Henri Bendel and Tory Burch and sold a variety of cheaply produced, often monogramed, female oriented clothing, gifts and accessories.  Many in the retail industry called the brand "revenge retail," given its similarity to Tory Burch and its targeting of similar customers.  I found the chain well merchandised and almost a Lilly Pulitzer / Tory Burch / Henri Bendel mashup. 

Did you like C. Wonder? Did you hate C. Wonder? What should replace vacant C. Wonder stores in Atlanta? 
 
Please share your thoughts below. 

6 comments:

Jewel at Eat.Drink.Shop.Love said...

Do you know when the Avalon location will close?

Anonymous said...

Good riddance! That was a store without a reason or purpose. I've wandered in only once and my impression was that it was store for women of a certain age that had run out of things to shop for. Their clothes looked cheap and gaudy and... 90's???

IMHO, there are only a few women's stores that we still need in Atlanta. Title 9 and COS are two that come to mind. Maybe Massimo Dutti, the higher-end Zara relative.

Love reading your updates and hearing your intel, BTW. Thanks!

Atlantan99 said...

@Jewel,

As stated in the post, the Avalon store closed "today" Tuesday, January 6th.

Thanks for your comments and readership.

Diego said...

Can't look good for a store at Avalon to already be closing up shop… I bet the landlords/developers are PISSED :-D

Anonymous said...

true that!
The Landlord there is sophisticated too, so I'm sure they had a pretty strong operating covenant in their lease which they're probably in default of.

Anonymous said...

My two cents.... Avalon's owners are thrilled to have C-Wonder closing up shop. The chains' fall from grace was quick, and it occurred after C-Wonder had already signed a lease at the project. They would have never been allowed to open if it were up to the landlord, but a lease is a lease. With them gone, the developer can upgrade the tenancy... From what I understand there is a long list of tenants for phase II that would love to be in Phase I of the project.

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