The 262 York St. location, once filled with tweeds and knits that you probably could not pull off, is now vacant; a sign in the window advises would-be shoppers, “WE WILL BE RE-OPENING AT 976 CHAPEL ST. BETWEEN ANN TAYLOR & SHAKE SHACK.”
Owned by J. Press Incorporated, a Japanese LLC based in New York, the building was deemed structurally unsound during Winter Storm Nemo; the New Haven Independent reported that the company already had plans in motion to relocate at that time.
The menswear shop’s departure will leave an empty storefront in prime Yale campus position. I personally am already wondering who our new neighbor will be.
Other students also expressed uncertainty about J. Press’s ability to maintain its “vintage” vibe in the strip mall district (srsly, between Shake Shack and Ann Taylor), and some even fondly recalled the old York Street store’s ambiance. “There was thick and lush wall to wall carpeting, and scarves with the residential college color schemes, and patches that you could put on your blazer for every res college and grad school,” reminisced one Yale junior in a text message to the Bullblog. “And ties and belts with skull and bones patterns.”
What does J. Press have in store (pun actually not intended, too lazy to rephrase, sorry) for us? We’ll have to wait and see.