Kenneth Cole to Shut Down Almost All Its Brick-and-Mortar Stores
- Fashion house concentrating on internet, overseas operations
- Designer opened his first store in 1984 on Upper West Side
Kenneth Cole window display in New York.
Photographer: Eugene Gologursky/Getty ImagesKenneth Cole Productions, a fashion house and shoe company founded more than three decades ago, is closing almost all its stores, effectively ending its run as a U.S. brick-and-mortar chain.
The New York-based retailer will shutter its 63 outlet stores over the next six months, Chief Executive Officer Marc Schneider said in an e-mail Friday. That leaves Kenneth Cole with just two full-priced stores in the U.S. following an earlier paring of those locations. The company will be focusing efforts on its e-commerce site and international business, Schneider said.