Big brand retailer Century 21 is returning to its big city roots with a grand reopening of its flagship superstore in New York City.
The return to New York is a genuine retail resurrection story for Century 21.
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The company declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September, 2020, victimized by the mandated pandemic lockdowns. The retailer wound up shuttering 13 stores in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania in 2020.
A year later, family descendants of the original owner Sonny Gindi who founded the company in 1961, along with his brothers, Ralph and Al Gindi, set out to buy the company back. After repurchasing the intellectual property rights to Century 21 and hiring Marc Benitez, a former executive at COACH and Kenneth Cole, the company relaunched with an eye on re-establishing itself in New York City.
Two years later, that goal is coming to fruition with the opening of the retailer’s flagship store at 22 Cortlandt Street in Manhattan on Tuesday, May 16.
“Although the past three years have proven a difficult time for all, New Yorkers will always endure,” Raymond Gindi, Century 21 co-chief executive officer, said in a statement. “The amount of love, passion, and excitement since announcing that we are coming back has brought energy to downtown Manhattan and we are so excited to be reopening at our original location with a focus on the designer-fashion apparel and accessories that have been a core part of our business from the start.”
The 100,000-square-foot superstore offers four floors of apparel and fashion accessories from brand names like Versace, Givenchy, Fendi, Chloe, and Hugo Boss.
Decade-long ties to luxury designers give Century 21 an inside track to bottom-line profits, company executives say.
"We have such great relationships with our vendors and we go all over the world to find the right merchandise at the right pricing that nobody else can get," said co-owner Eddie Gindi in comments to ABC7 New York.
