LEN DRUSKIN SEES ROOMY MARKET, PLANS TWO NEW BOUTIQUES

JOHN VOMHOF JR. - MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL BUSINESS JOURNAL
September 25, 2009

At a time when many retailers are closing stores, Twin Cities clothing retailer Len Druskin Inc. is expanding.

Len Druskin will open two new stores in downtown Minneapolis this fall: a 2,100-square-foot LD Len Druskin women’s boutique next to Neiman Marcus at Gaviidae Common and a 7,000-square-foot Len outlet store across from Brooks Brothers on the skyway level at City Center. The women’s store will open in early October; the outlet will open a few weeks later.

Following the expansion, Len Druskin will have five stores. The company also operates the 10,000-square-foot Len Druskin flagship store at the Galleria in Edina, a Len Druskin Outlet at Southdale Center and Len Druskin Man at Gaviidae Common.

CEO Michael Druskin said Len Druskin Man has performed relatively well since opening almost three years ago, and the company has always wanted to expand its downtown presence to include its women’s and outlet concepts.

“We believe that downtown can be a great place to shop, eat, work and live, and we’d like to be part of that,” Druskin said.

LD Len Druskin will be a full-line store with many of the same women’s offerings found at the company’s Galleria store, including casual and evening attire, specialty denim and footwear. The Len outlet store will feature special purchases from the company’s vendors.

Downtown Minneapolis has struggled to attract and retain retailers in recent years, but a local boutique retailer such as Len Druskin should fare better, said Jim McComb, founder of the McComb Group Ltd., a Minneapolis-based retail consulting firm. “They have a better ability to respond to the market with their fashion offerings.”

The Len Druskin Outlet store at Southdale also will change its name to Len in the coming months to eliminate any confusion between the company’s various brands.

“Each store has its own personality and its own name, so it isn’t just a series of cookie-cutter experiences,” Druskin said.