MZ Wallace Opens New SoHo Boutique
MZ Wallace is returning to SoHo, armed with a new league of fans who found the brand online during the pandemic.
The accessories label had run a boutique at 93 Crosby Street for 20 years until its lease expired just before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Now, the company has opened a new shop on the same street, albeit one block south.
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The MZ Wallace boutique at 49 Crosby Street will serve as a template for future store openings as brand founders Monica Zwirner and Lucy Wallace Eustice plan to increase the company’s brick-and-mortar presence. On Aug. 13, the label also opened a store in Chicago at 1648 North Damen Avenue.
“We are back on Crosby Street, next to SoulCycle, which offers great brand adjacency — we sell a lot of bags based on lifestyle, to men and women running around New York,” said Zwirner.
“We have a lot of momentum right now — we have grown every year. The pandemic didn’t stop that growth. The loss of brick-and-mortar [during the pandemic] just sent customers to our website. The line has broadened and we have been mindful about addressing our customer’s lifestyle. Women are busier than ever and are doing more than they’ve ever done and we wanted to step up and fit their needs,” added Eustice.
Over the last three years, MZ Wallace says it has seen an average 20 percent year-over-year growth of its digital database and 22 percent annual site traffic growth that reflects “strong conversion rates.” The brand declined to provide sales data.
Helping MZ Wallace in the retail journey is fast-rising interior design firm Charlap Hyman & Herrero, which is marking its first permanent retail project with MZ Wallace’s template store design.
“The black and cream swirling pattern that lines the floor and walls at the MZ Wallace flagship, printed on carpet, fabric and wallpaper, operates as a foil to the precise geometries of their iconic quilted bags. It is a digital interpretation of marble, warped and liquid, that translates the coldness of stone into something soft, luxurious and inviting,” said Adam Charlap, principal for Charlap Hyman & Herrero.
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