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April 28, 2005
The Croc comes to Old Orchard
Do you remember back in the 1980s how it was so "in" to wear a shirt with that goofy crocodile logo on it? Well, that stuff was made by a company called Izod.
Interestingly, the Izod brand was split in 1995 and sold to Phillips-Van Heusen, becoming crocodile-free. The brand that retained the "croc" was Lacoste, a French apparel company based in Paris.
Their namesake is Jean René Lacoste, a famous French tennis player, businessman, and innovator. He was nicknamed "the crocodile" by fans (ah, there's where that came from!). According to Wikipedia, he is now mostly known as being the namesake of the Lacoste tennis shirt, which he invented in 1929.
I mention all of this because Old Orchard is going to be opening a Lacoste store in Spring 2005, according to their construction walls located in The Garden section. The Chicago Tribune recently published this story about the upcoming opening:
Lacoste's crocodile scares up new shops
Becky Yerak
Published April 19, 2005Lacoste, the crocodile-logo polo shirts that were practically issued to people coming of age in the 1980s, is opening its second Illinois store next month in Westfield Old Orchard in Skokie.
After falling out of favor in the grungy 1990s, Lacoste is back, thanks to a resurgence of retro, preppy dressing. It's now a $1 billion brand globally, and U.S. sales rose 125 percent in 2004 and are expected to rise 60 percent in 2005. In 2001, Lacoste hired its first creative director and in 2003 had its first runway show.
The French luxury sportswearmaker has 28 stores and plans for five more in 2005, including Skokie, Las Vegas and New York's Soho neighborhood. Its other local store is in Chicago's Water Tower Place.
...Don't confuse Lacoste with Izod. The two names had been interchangeable, but Izod now represents a croc-less, lower-end polo brand sold in such retailers as J.C. Penney Co. In contrast, Lacoste polo shirts start at $70 at retailers such as Marshall Field's. New for this season are women's Lacoste swimsuits starting at $125.
Lacoste is part of a wave of new tenants at Old Orchard as 10-year leases expire. Other tenants include Sephora, Sigrid Olsen, Landau and Sisley. Among those departing: Lady Foot Locker, Sweet Factory, GNC and Christopher & Banks.
Source: Chicago Tribune
Posted by Tannerman at April 28, 2005 11:22 AM | Categories: News | The Garden