[EXCLUSIVE] Vince Closing at Phipps Plaza, Fancy Jewelry Store Coming Soon

Contemporary fashion brand Vince is slated to close its longstanding store at Phipps Plaza at the end of January after nearly sixteen years in business.  The men's and women's clothing store occupies a prominent 1,700 square foot space on the mall's main level, center court.  

The Phipps Plaza shop is the only outpost in the state for the New York City-brand, but pieces from the line can be found in retail partners such as Bloomingdale's and Nordstrom, and even discounters like Marshalls and TJ Maxx.  

Vince, like Davio's, which closed December 28, occupied space once the home of a large Niketown store.  

In place of Vince, several sources tell ToNeTo Atlanta that Phipps Plaza owner Simon Property Group has secured a lease with luxury French jewelry company Van Cleef & Arpels.  The new Van Cleef & Arpels would be the first stand-alone boutique for the luxury brand which currently operates a shop-in-shop within Neiman-Marcus at Lenox Square.  (The shop within Neiman-Marcus is expected to close when the new boutique opens.)   

Van Cleef & Arpels is, like many luxury brands, owned by Swiss luxury goods holding company Richemont.  In addition to Van Cleef, Richemont owns Cartier and Vacheron Constantin, both with stores in Phipps Plaza, as well as Montblanc, which has a boutique in Lenox Square.  Panerai and IWC Schaffhausen, also owned by Richemont, have a combo boutique under construction in the old Ferragamo in the "Luxury Wing" of Lenox Square.  

The company also owns Alaïa, Baume & Mercier, Chloé, Delvaux, Dunhill, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Mr Porter, Net-a-Porter, Peter Millar, and Piaget, among other brands.  

Are you pleased by the changes at Phipps Plaza?  When was the last time you shopped at Phipps Plaza?  Do you think making Phipps Plaza ultra luxury is the right move for the mall?

Please share your thoughts below.