For decades, Brooks Brothers have been my clothing store of choice. I can’t think of a single major event (including getting married) in my life where I wasn’t wearing clothing and accessories from Brooks. Even today, as the company has been sold, I have a closet full of Brooks Brothers items, totaling thousands of dollars in purchases. Never let it be said a buyer doesn’t get their money’s worth when buying Brooks items; I have some legendary stories of returning and replacing items, by the way.
For a time I worked in an office at 380 Madison, a few minutes walk from the Mother Store, located at 346 Madison Avenue. I walked by (or entered) the store nearly every day. Not much had changed in the store, including the employees, in the years the business operated from the location. The sales associates were, for the most part, lifers and they were walking Ambassadors of their brand.
As soon as one entered the store, you’d notice it smelled the same, looked the same, and gave off a feeling that you were entering a kind of a club. While the store is still open at that location, it looks and feels different. It’s just a store, now, with no feeling of history.
I no longer live in New York so occasionally I have shopped at their regional retail stores; with the Pandemic, many of these stores have closed, either temporarily or forever. I hope that the company will continue to carry on if only to have a building on Madison Avenue that feels very, very familiar to me.
Are we there yet? 