Juicy Couture stores to close as brand refocuses

The California clothing brand Juicy Couture, famous for its signature velour tracksuits with rhinestone and glitter designs, is closing all of its U.S. stores and has already shuttered its five locations on Long Island.

A company official said the five local stores are in East Hampton, the Americana Manhasset and Roosevelt Field malls and at the Tanger Outlets in Deer Park and Riverhead. At Roosevelt Field Tuesday the store sign had been removed and the windows were boarded up.

Juicy Couture has boasted more than 70 boutiques and outlet stores in North America. The U.S. stores will be phased out and replaced beginning in 2015 with new "concept" locations in high-traffic areas like New York City, Los Angeles and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, company officials said Tuesday in a release.

"All stores have different closing dates," said Haley Steinberg, spokeswoman for the Manhattan-based Authentic Brands Group LLC, the owner of the Juicy Couture brand. "They will all close by the end of summer."

The retail stores, which were opened by a previous owner of the brand, were "no longer representative of the Juicy Couture brand" and the company's vision for its future, officials said.

"We're looking at free-standing locations and outdoor malls instead of indoor malls," said Steinberg. She did not say how many employees were to be affected by the closings but added, "Many jobs were saved."

Juicy Couture has been available in nearly 200 Juicy Couture stores, and at Juicy Couture outlet stores and select department stores in about 60 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

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Authentic Brands officials said they plan to open another 127 stores and "shop in shops" over the next five years in major cities across the world.

The label's former parent company, Fifth & Pacific Companies -- now renamed Kate Spade & Co. -- sold the right to the Juicy name in October to Authentic Brands for $195 million.