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Home > What's New > Dunhill Closing Stores in United States
Dunhill Closing Stores in United States
Posted: Monday, April 21, 2003
By Michael S. Marsh
Display cases on the first floor of the Fifth Avenue Dunhill store. |
When Alfred Dunhill Ltd. opened its gentlemen's shop in New York City in 1933, it was the high-end retailer's first in the United States. Now, some 70 years later, New York City is set to have the last American Dunhill store.
Simon Critchell, Dunhill's chief executive officer, has announced that his company will be closing all of its retail shops in the United States, save for its flagship store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Critchell, who didn't return calls from Cigar Aficionado Online seeking comment, made the announcement in a March 31 interview with DNR, a men's fashion daily.
Nine Dunhill shops will close in the United States over the next five months. These include stores in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Houston. The Dunhill shops in Miami and Las Vegas have already locked their doors. According to Critchell, the closings will not affect the remaining 158 Dunhill locations around the world.
Managers and spokesmen at Dunhill, which sells clothes, humidors and accessories, and cigars bearing its name and others, refused comment. Critchell said in the DNR interview that the closings were part of a long-term restructuring strategy that would allow Dunhill to make a "big leap forward" in the next few years. He said the shops were closed in part because they were either too big or too small to be viable.
Critchell wasn't forthcoming about what exactly the leap forward entailed, but he did mention two other factors that influenced Dunhill's decision. One was the company's desire to focus more attention on its "accessory-driven" wholesale business, which began in 2002; the other was a partnership that the company entered into recently with Components Inc. to distribute Dunhill products in the United States.
The surviving U.S. Dunhill shop, located at 711 Fifth Avenue, is being expanded in light of the restructuring. The 5,800-square-foot store will soon have an exterior canopy and a barbershop, and the store's second-floor tailoring area is being renovated.
The flagship store, which carries an extensive collection of stylish menswear including shirts and ties, suits, belts, and leather jackets, will take on an even greater role as the epicenter of Dunhill's operations in the United States. The shop, which has a walk-in humidor and a smoking lounge, will now manage and service all of Dunhill's cigar and humidor clients from around the country.
Photos courtesy of Dunhill Also in Cigar News:
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