The owners of Evelyn & Arthur women’s clothing boutique are closing the Manalapan location due to 'rising prices.' Plaza del Mar was sold in December. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
By Christine Davis
Evelyn & Arthur women’s clothing boutique will close its Manalapan location at Plaza del Mar on May 17.
All merchandise is already marked down 50%, and customers will receive another 50% off that price at the register. “That’s about as special as it gets,” said Fred Weissman, chief financial officer of the company. Fixtures are also for sale, added his wife, Adrianne Weissman, Evelyn & Arthur’s president.
The store is closing because of rising prices following the sale of the plaza in December, Fred Weissman explained.
“The cost of doing business there got to be too high from what it used to be to what it is today,” he said. The Weissmans decided in early April to close the Plaza del Mar store and a sign went up on the storefront notifying the clientele by mid-month.
Plaza del Mar’s new owners say they tried to get the store to stay. “Evelyn & Arthur had a renewal term in the lease that they had negotiated with the previous ownership and we made it clear that we value their tenancy and that we would honor that renewal at the same terms and conditions set forth in the lease,” said Scott Loventhal, managing member of Manalapan Plaza del Mar LLC, a subsidiary of New Jersey-based Garden Commercial Properties.
“The tenant was unwilling to renew under the terms they previously negotiated, and we then indicated our willingness to work with them on new renewal terms. Tenant indicated that they were considering reducing the number of stores they have as they consider the future of their overall business model and declined our offer.”
The Weissmans said that all of their other stores will remain open, and that Manalapan employees will go to stores in Boca Raton and Palm Beach Gardens.
Closing this location is bittersweet for them, Adrianne said. “It’s sad to close it. Had the management not changed, we would still be there. We’ve had a loyal client base there and hopefully they will go to our other locations and shop online.”
Adrianne’s parents, Evelyn and Arthur Lewis, opened their first store in Palm Beach in 1985 after Arthur retired as a manufacturer of women’s sportswear in Manhattan. The Manalapan store subsequently opened in 1986.
Previously buyers for Macy’s NY, the Weissmans joined the Lewises’ business in 1986 and expanded the company to include seven stores across Florida, with an eighth location in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
Evelyn & Arthur Manalapan is at 277 S. Ocean Blvd. Store hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
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