New York & Co Clearing House?

This past Saturday the hubby, my eldest daughter and I had stolen sometime to play in the featured mall for last week, First Colony.   After indulging in the Pop Fancy treats we had been drooling over in the many visits in preparation of last Thursday’s review all week, I found myself fumbling for my camera in a panicked reaction as I saw the crowds flocking to the unbeatable clearance event at New York and Company.  It has been too soon since the Limited had sneakily cleared their stores before announcing a full on closure, and I stole a quick shot of the scene.

The signs hanging in the window were not your typical obnoxiously yellow store closing standard sign package and short of the wording “last chance clearance event” it had shown no signs of actual closure.  But then through the glass, just beyond the giant neon signs that were sloppily hung at a slant, another affordable and iconic brick and mortar of professional women attire shown bare walls.

I remembered reading a few weeks back that New York and Company does seem to be struggling, so I decided to look to see if there was any new strife reported in their midst.  The Bear of the Day says that NY & Co is talking about taking up to a 4.5 mill operational loss.  Over promotion has seemed to bring only customers seeking a bargain, and in a 4th quarter with it’s direct competitor The Limited closing house, their 70% bargains for no where near the selection of product was not as alluring to their normal clientele.

Though, then I read on to see that just last last week NY & Co lost a copyright lawsuit costing them only 5.6 million, a painful but yet still small margin for a major retailer with nearly 500 locations.   The suit was over their activewear line labeled “velocity” a title which had already been copyrighted by some activewear company that I hadn’t even heard of.  Perhaps this clearance event was focusing on clearing out the old line to bring in a new fresh start this coming spring.  Much like Aeropostale did over this past January.

In any case there does need to be some plan of action, even I, a long time shopper of NY & Co have found myself unenthused with their prints that come off as neon Versace rip offs and poorly tailored sweaters that have a nasty habit of bunching at the shoulders.  The few times I have seen something I absolutely love, much like the deep purple trench I spotted last fall, are sold out, never to be replenished before I can even come back on pay day to purchase it.  Now that Limited is gone, this is the perfect opportunity to stop seeing themselves as the bargain bin, thats already being handled by TJ Maxx and Ross, and instead step back and focus on their Eva Mendes line, and other select, high quality outfits that will be in greater demand but in far more “limited” quantities.  This mall isn’t big enough for the two of them, but perhaps now one could truly thrive.

What do you think?

• Is New York & Co clearing house or cleaning house???
• What do you think would be the first plan of action you would present for this Spring if you were on the board of NY&Co?

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References

Bear of the day New York and Company

New York and Co. Hit with 5.6 Million Dollar Verdict…WWD