Over the past several years, J. Crew has created a strong footprint along Madison Avenue with four stores between 66st and 87st. This spring, little sister, Madewell is be jointing the Madison Avenue family with a store located between 84th and 85th Street.
This will be Madewell’s third store in Manhattan but its first uptown location. The new space is appropriately situated between Teavana and LuluLemon. It is clear that J. Crew has big expansion plans for Madewell. In the first nine months of 2013, the company opened 13 Madewell stores, bringing the total tally to 65.
Madewell is known for their effortlessly cool and laid back aesthetic. Think, Canadian tuxedo with lots of downtown cool. Jeans are normally priced at $125, a dress is $160, flannels are $80. (You’ll also want to know that Madewell offers a college and teacher discount of 15% with a valid I.D.) The brand’s biggest competitors are Gap and Urban Outfitters, which are both directly East, on Third Avenue.
We just hope that Madewell doesn’t play the same tricky pricing games as the Madison Avenue J. Crew stores. Do we really need to be charged more for the same item because we are shopping on Madison Avenue? Frankly, it seems quite opportunistic and nearly unethical.
