Hickey Freeman Madison Avenue store closes

Hickey Freeman's Madison Avenue store has shuttered its doors. The 2500-square-foot unit, which was owned by Doug Williams, chief executive officer of W Diamond Group, was located at 543 Madison Avenue between 54th and 55th Streets. In 2014, the store was renovated to include new lighting, fixtures, and displays. In addition the ready-to-wear and made-to-measure products from the label, the store also carried third party brands and an assortment of licensed products.

Grant Retail Holdings, parent company of Montreal-based Samuelsohn, finalized their acquisition of the Hickey Freeman brand in 2013. This also included acquiring the factory in Rochester from W Diamond Group. However, W Diamond retained ownership of the retail store. Williams was the former ceo of HMX Group.

In May, a 900-square-foot Hickey Freeman store opened at Brookfield Place. The store is located in between Equinox Sports Club and the new Saks Fifth Avenue slated to open later this year. Brookfield Place is home to numerous other high-end contemporary and luxury brands such as Salvatore Ferragamo, Bottega Veneta, Diane von Furstenburg, and Theory just to name a few.

Hickey Freeman closes Madison Avenue location

The Brookfield store was the first store to be opened by Grano Retail Holdings since the company purchased the brand three years ago. The terms of the deal stipulate that Grano will have a 40-year license with Hickey Freeman's owners, Authentic Brand Group.

Stephen Granovsky, Grano's chief executive officer, told WWD that the Madison Avenue store did well, and the relationship with Williams was cordial, and Grano was “in discussions to acquire that store so we can present one very aligned view of Hickey Freeman to the customer.”

The plan was originally for Grano to acquire the lease for the Madison Avenue store, but the landlord chose to recapture the space versus assigning the new lease.

According to Williams, the brand is scouting for a new location on the Upper East Side.

photo via Hickey Freeman website