LUXURY SHOPPING

Palm Beach DIOR boutique closes abruptly

By ROBERT JANJIGIAN
Palm Beach Daily News Fashion Editor

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

For the past two years, rumors have swirled that the island's Christian Dior boutique was about to close, said Sherry Frankel, president of the Worth Avenue Association.

On the afternoon of Dec. 26, however, the rumor came true as the store was shuttered, signs atop the storefront removed quickly and windows covered with black paper.

"It didn't come as that much of a surprise, considering all the speculation about it closing that's been bandied down the Avenue for quite a while," Frankel said. "The only surprise was that Dior closed the day after Christmas, apparently quite abruptly."

Company officials declined to explain.

"We have no comment at this time," said a New York-based spokeswoman for Christian Dior, the Paris-based company owned by LVMH.

The French luxury-goods conglomerate also owns Louis Vuitton and Emilio Pucci and operates Vuitton and Pucci boutiques at 150 Worth Ave.

The 2,000-square-foot Dior boutique was, when it opened Nov. 1, 2003, the Paris house's 15th store in the United States and, at the time, one of three boutiques in the country selling the Dior fine jewelry collection.

"When you're in the luxury-goods business, you know that Palm Beach is a place we needed to be," Marla Sabo, former president and chief operating office of Christian Dior North America, said just before the store opened.

Florida Dior boutiques remain in operation at the Bal Harbour Shops north of Miami and at Orlando's Mall at Millennia.

Locally, Dior products are not available at either of the major department stores, Saks Fifth Avenue or Neiman Marcus, although Saks in Boca Raton does stock the label's merchandise.

The space formerly occupied by Dior at 202 Worth Ave. is owned by the Salvatore Ferragamo company under the Moda Imports Inc. name.

Ferragamo owns the entire building and the series of storefronts that skirt the southwest corner of County Road and Worth Avenue.

The building's tenants include Gypsy, the Ferragamo boutique, Valentino and Kaufmann de Suisse Jewelers. There are currently two vacant storefronts, the former Dior space at 202 and the former Emanuel Ungaro space at 440. S. County Road, which has remained empty since the September closing of that Paris-based fashion boutique.

The Ferragamo company's New Jersey-based real estate executives also had no comment on Dior's closure and could not confirm details about the leasing arrangements.

"We are sad to see Dior go," Frankel said. "While it's a loss for the Avenue, there is a prime retail spot now available that I'm certain will be filled swiftly with an equally prestigious retailer."

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Palm Beach's UNGARO boutique shutters after 11 years

By ROBERT JANJIGIAN
Daily News Fashion Editor
Wednesday, October 08, 2008

After an 11-year run, the Emanuel Ungaro fashion boutique abruptly closed up shop at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

The Paris fashion house opened the boutique at 440 S. County Road, just south of Worth Avenue, in November 1997. It was one of two Ungaro boutiques in the United States; the flagship American boutique is still operating in Manhattan.

"I think that Ungaro, along with many of the retailers in Palm Beach, was suffering due to the economic situation. I expect the season will be pretty quiet for business."


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