ONE OF OUR FAVORITE STORES ON EARTH, THE ICONIC HENRI BENDEL, IS GOING OUT OF BUSINESS!

Parent company L Brands announced Thursday it's closing Bendel's website and all of its 23 stores, including the store's iconic Fifth Avenue location in New York, in January 2019 because of sluggish sales.

L Brands (LB) said in a statement that it's closing Bendel "to improve company profitability and focus on our larger brands that have greater growth potential," which includes Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works. 

Since 2016, Paul Blum, formerly of Fred Segal and David Yurman, has served as Bendel’s CEO.

Bendel makes up a small portion of L Brands' sales. Last year, the company reported revenue of $12.6 billion. The company said Bendel's 2018 sales were approximately $85 million, adding that it's in the process of estimating closing costs. 

The upscale brand, best known for its designer purses and shoes, was founded in 1895 by Henri Bendel as a hat shop in Greenwich Village. According to a store history, Andy Warhol served for a time as an in-house illustrator, and Bendel was the first to bring designer Coco Chanel to the United States. In 1913, the brand became one of the first luxury retailers to open a flagship store with an "upper FIfth Avenue address," according to its website.

He eventually passed the baton to former Glamour editor Geraldine Stutz, who served as president for 29 years, and became a legend in her own right. Stutz is credited with one of Bendel’s most famous innovations: the ground-floor street of shops.

“In those days, there was nothing else like Henri Bendel,” former Tiffany exec Robert Rufino told The New York Times in 2005 after Stutz died. “It was like working for the best house in the world. To take this little town house and make it look like someone lived there, as you were going from room to room—it was just one woman’s vision on the world of fashion, and yet it did incredibly well.”

L Brands acquired Bendel in 1985 and led its expansion into 11 states. L Brands is having a difficult 2018 because of increased retail competition. 

The stock is down 55% for the year, making it one of worst performing companies in the S&P 500 for the year.