Earlier this year, Henri Bendel, one of New York City’s most acclaimed brands made the decision to remove all third party brands from its name.
“It was a scary thought," said Kenetha Holsey, the district manager of of the East coast stores. "It was kind of a sudden change for everyone, but after I heard the amazing details I knew it would be a good kind of change.”
As of April 2014, Henri Bendel will only produce and expand its own brand. The first floor of the flagship store is going to have a boutique/mall feel to it. There will be gorgeous new tables, golden fixtures and a grand atrium. Everything will have gold and chrome finishings. Next, the company is going to collect all sale items from the mall stores and liquidate all of that merchandise on the second floor of the store. East coast stores.
“What we know for sure is that it will be filled with extraordinary and exclusive pieces as always,” stated Holsey.
The new product will be a spin on current lines, which will include handbag collections such as the West 57th Collection, the Carlyle Collection, and the A-List Collection. Creative Director Pina Ferlisi wants the collections to have more of a luxe feel to them; this means there will be more use of materials such as exotic leathers, hair calf and stainless steel hardware. The jewelry lines are going to have an edgier look to them, employing different metals and textures such as stainless steel and crystals.
Right now there are 29 stores including the flagship location.
“The company strongly believes that they will have a fleet of about 100 stores across America," Holsey says. "The company wants to really brand their own name which is the reason for the big change.”
