Luxury
Retailer Paul Stuart Reopens Boutiques in Three Cities
NEW YORK,
June 22, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Known for its outstanding tailored clothing
and sportswear collections for men and women, Paul Stuart is thrilled to
announce the reopening of their retail stores in New York, Washington, D.C.,
and Chicago.
Closed
since March due to COVID - 19, the stores and everything inside of them have
been completely sanitized in preparation for the store's reopening. Paul
Stuart, committed to the highest standards of cleanliness and disinfection,
will have protective materials available to all customers who visit our
pristine stores. While the doors are open, sales personnel will continue to
assist shoppers who are not able to visit in person with phone orders,
storefront pickup, free shipping, and hand delivery to a customer's address.
Paulette
Garafalo, CEO of Paul Stuart says, "We couldn't be happier to make this
long-awaited announcement. After closing our stores in March, we are thrilled
to finally be welcoming our many customers back with new summer styles for men
and women that we are confident will inspire. Paul Stuart has emerged from this
crisis with a renewed mission to provide the ultimate in luxury clothing and
service to consumers both in person and on our eCommerce website."
For summer,
Paul Stuart has everything a well-dressed gentleman needs for his travels from
the boardroom to the beach. The customLAB offers extraordinary Made to Measure
tailored clothing, shirts & ties in a new presentation boutique on the main
floor of the New York store. For women, Paul Stuart is excited to announce the
launch of the Paul Stuart Advance collection exclusively in the New York store.
New styles include Italian silk skirts and blouses, lightweight wool sweaters,
and a new Moto style leather jacket. Men's footwear this season completes the
look with elegant suede espadrilles, classic bucks, and traditional loafers.
Paul Stuart
is one of the last remaining clothing retailers of its kind and has an
important position in the history of American fashion. Over the last 80 years
of its existence, the company has survived many difficulties in our nation's
history including wars and financial disruptions. As the company looks ahead to
the future, they are more confident than ever that with their talented team of
designers and their loyal customers, the brand will endure and thrive. Garafalo
says, "We look forward once again, to welcoming everyone back to Paul
Stuart."
About Paul
Stuart:
Headquartered
in New York City, Paul Stuart, Inc. was founded by Ralph Ostrove and named for
his son Paul Stuart Ostrove. The store has remained in its original location
since opening in 1938. The company designs exclusive collections of men's and
women's tailored clothing, sportswear, footwear, and accessories.
Additional
Paul Stuart locations can be found in Chicago on East Oak Street and in
Washington, D.C.'s CityCenter. The company operates additional stores in more
than 50 locations throughout Japan. Paul Stuart is privately held by Mitsui
& Co., LTD company of Japan.
SOURCE Paul Stuart
Paul Stuart
is a men's and women's clothing brand founded in 1938 in New York City by
haberdasher Ralph Ostrove, who named the company after his son, Paul Stuart
Ostrove. The company has four standalone boutiques in the US, and two in Japan.
Since 2012 it has been owned by Mitsui. The Paul Stuart logo is Dink Stover
sitting on the Yale fence. Paul Stuart has been described as a blend of “Savile
Row, Connecticut living and the concrete canyons of New York.” Its creative
director is Ralph Auriemma.
History
The company
was helmed by the legendary merchant and CEO Clifford Grodd from 1958 until his
death in 2010. The retailer remained a privately-held family business until
December 2012, when it was sold to its long-time Japanese partners, Mitsui.
In fall
2007, Paul Stuart launched its Phineas Cole range, which is clothing with a
slimmer silhouette. Paulette Garafalo, formerly of Brooks Brothers and Hickey
Freeman, became CEO of Paul Stuart on June 14, 2016, marking the first time someone
unrelated to the Ostrove family led the company. In 2019 the company began
offering a lower-priced made-to-measure service branded as customLAB, and a
luxury MTM jeans service branded as denimBAR. In 2019 the company celebrated
the redesign of its omnichannel e-commerce website with home delivery via
vintage Packard automobile.
September
3, 1981 NEW YORK TIMES
Ralph
Ostrove, founder and chairman of the board of Paul Stuart Inc., the men's
clothing store at Madison Avenue and 45th Street, died Tuesday at North Shore
University Hospital in Manhasset, L.I., after a brief illness. He was 83 years
old and lived in Flushing, Queens.
As the son
of a leading retailer of men's clothing in New York, he made the Paul Stuart
store one of the city's most popular outlets for men's clothing in what is
regarded as the subdued classic or understated traditional style.
Mr. Ostrove
was the son of Harry Ostrove, who founded the Broadstreet's chain of stores,
which were discontinued several years ago. Ralph Ostrove, who eventually became
president of Broadstreet's, left the company in 1937. In 1938 he founded Paul
Stuart Inc., named for his son, Paul Stuart Ostrove, who is now vice president
of the company.
In addition
to his son, who lives in Roslyn, L.I., Mr. Ostrove is survived by his wife,
Jean; a daughter, Barbara Grodd of Rye, N.Y.; a sister, Ruth Meltsner of
Flushing, and five grandchildren.
Cliff Grodd, Paul Stuart Legend, Dies of Cancer
Clifford Grodd, the driving force and ceo of Paul
Stuart, died after a long battle with cancer.
By Jean E.
Palmieri and David Lipke and Brenner Thomas on May 26, 2010
Clifford
Grodd, the driving force and chief executive officer of Paul Stuart who ran the
upscale specialty store for nearly 60 years, died Tuesday at his New York City
home after a long battle with cancer. He was 86.
Due to his
illness, Grodd, a men’s wear icon and top-notch merchant, had been unable to
come to the store for the past 18 months, but nevertheless called in several
times a day to check on the business.
This story
first appeared in the May 26, 2010 issue of WWD.
In his
honor, the store will be closed Thursday, the day memorial services are
scheduled to be held at 1:30 p.m. at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home at
Madison Avenue and 81st Street in Manhattan.
“We will
close for the day in respect for his memory and great contribution to the
industry,” said Sandy Neiman, Paul Stuart’s director of marketing.
Born in New
Haven, Conn., and educated at the University of Connecticut, Grodd served as an
Air Force gunner during World War II and was shot down over Hungary, captured
and put into solitary confinement by the Germans. At the end of the war, he was
awarded a Purple Heart.
Paul
Stuart, a 60,000-square-foot fixture on Madison Avenue and 45th Street, was
founded by Ralph Ostrove and his cousin Norman in 1938. Ralph Ostrove named the
store after his son, Paul Stuart Ostrove. Grodd, who had completed an executive
training program at the G. Fox department store in Hartford, Conn., joined Paul
Stuart circa 1951 after marrying Ostrove’s daughter, Barbara.
Ostrove was
in declining health and wanted to retire, so he asked Grodd to buy out his
share of the company, which he did. The Paul Stuart logo features a fictional
character sitting on a fence at Yale, according to Grodd’s account.
Grodd once
described his aesthetic to DNR, WWD’s former sibling publication, this way:
“We’ve constantly striven to be as upscale as possible within the milieu of our
particular type of clothing, which is quite cosmopolitan in image. It’s still
soft and not exaggerated, easy to wear, hopefully subtle, understated and
flattering.”
Paul Stuart
became known for its adherence to a soft shoulder look in tailoring. The
company claimed to be the first American retailer to bring side vents to the
States, as well as the three-button suit.
All of the
merchandise at Paul Stuart bears the retailer’s brand. The company designs its
own product and also alters other product it buys in the market to tailor it to
the Paul Stuart aesthetic. Earlier in its life, the store carried outside
brands, such as Gant, Corbin and Southwick, but Grodd believed Paul Stuart
could distinguish itself from competitors by offering its own branded
merchandise.
“I wasn’t
interested in competing with designers or brands who put their names in other
places. I felt that if we didn’t know our customer better than someone sitting
1,000 miles away, then we didn’t belong in the same business,” he said.
A Chicago
store, which opened in 1995, now occupies a town house on East Oak Street. The
company also operates licensed units in Japan and South Korea.
“I’ve known
Cliff my entire career. He was instrumental to building one of the most
respected brands. He was a great leader in our industry, an incredible person
and a true friend,” said Ralph Lauren.
Over the
years, Grodd helped dress celebrities including Cary Grant (“I had to
personally take care of him at the Plaza,” said Grodd), Fred Astaire, Frank
Sinatra, Paul Newman (“when he lived in Fresh Meadows”), Mel Brooks, David
McCullough, David Halberstam and Philip Roth. “They look good because they’re
comfortable and distinguished. And it’s natural, not staid,” noted Grodd.
He was
known to exercise regularly early in the morning at the Yale Club and be among
the first to arrive at work at the store, striding into his second-floor
office. His exacting standards led employees to joke at times that “Grodd is in
the details.”
In 2007,
Grodd introduced a younger label to his stores, called Phineas Cole. Meant to
appeal to a more trend-conscious consumer in his 30s, it was the company’s
first subbrand and was based on the fictitious “errant nephew” of Paul Stuart,
according to Grodd.
“We’re all
saddened by his death,” Neiman said. “The man was a master retailer. He was a
great inspiration and a leader in men’s wear and the business.”
Neiman
stressed that since Grodd’s illness, Michael Ostrove, senior vice president,
had been running the business on a daily basis. He will now be elevated to
president and will continue to run the store.
The
industry mourned Grodd’s passing, recalling him as a tough, determined retailer
— one who understood his customer but stuck to his convictions. Famously, Grodd
retained the store’s private label focus and refused to let designer names
eclipse the prestige of Paul Stuart even after men’s wear became a
brand-oriented business.
“His legacy
is that you can operate a business and stick to your principles,” Wilkes
Bashford said. “He stuck to his guns no matter what was happening in the
business.”
“He was
very independent,” said Jack Mitchell. “He constantly wanted to improve his own
label.”
Others view
Grodd’s legacy in his aesthetic. “If he saw a fabric or silhouette he liked, he
went with it strong. There was never any halfway,” said designer Joseph Abboud,
who met Grodd when he was a young man working for Louis Boston. “He always told
me, ‘Joey, you’ll be a good designer because you worked retail.’ He knew that,
for a designer, the retail floor is where the battle is won and lost.”
Bill
Roberti, former ceo of Brooks Brothers and now with Alvarez & Marsal, said,
“Cliff was a consummate gentleman. He had wonderful vision and great style. He
was a true icon in the men’s business and will surely be sorely missed by his
employees and customers.”
Landing
Paul Stuart continued to be a prestigious account for the vendor community.
“For that Wall Street elegant guy, that store was among the best,” said Arnold
Silverstone, president of Samuelsohn, which makes private label tailored
clothing for the retailer. “Selling to them was and is a big deal for a
vendor.”
.webp)
1 comment:
Great post! Fantastic commentary. Thank you, Lisa
Post a Comment