Wilson Leather is falling out of fashion at Crossgates mall, with the retailer’s parent company planning to close its store there as part of a corporate restructuring.
Wilson The Leather Experts Inc. announced Friday its Wilson Leather brand will exit the mall retail business. The Minneapolis company will re-brand 100 mall stores and close the remaining 160 mall locations, including one at Crossgates.
Wilson plans to place its remaining Wilson Leather mall stores under the Studio brand, a concept store that focuses on women’s fashion accessories. Wilson started testing the Studio concept last fall and the rebranding initiative should be completed by August. Wilson Leather’s outlet division will not be affected by the changes.
The restructuring will affect 938 store workers and 64 employees at Wilson’s corporate headquarters, overseas offices and Brooklyn Park, Minn., distribution center.
The move to close the stores comes on the heels of Wilson’s announcement that total sales sank 14.8 percent to $21.9 million during the four-week period ending Feb. 2, compared to $25.7 million during the five-week period ending Feb. 3, 2007. As of Feb. 2, Wilson had 391 stores in 42 states.
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