Going West

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Mitchells, a Connecticut-based retailer which, over the years, had hitched its wagon to the hedge fund boon, offering labels like Brioni and St. John to Mr. and Mrs. finance-industry, is taking its business west. Bloomberg reports: "Mitchells stores, a Connecticut clothier to hedge funds and corporate chiefs, prospered with Wall Street until the financial crisis battered sales. Now, the group sees its California counterpart as the path to growth. Mitchells acquired San Francisco retail icon Wilkes Bashford in November for $4.1 million in bankruptcy court, merging the East Coast stores frequented by Starwood Capital Group LLC’s Barry Sternlicht with a West Coast shop that supplies Apple Inc.’s Steve Jobs with his famous black shirts. The cross-country move is a gamble as luxury sales struggle to recover after the U.S. recession." [Bloomberg]