Saks Fifth Ave Deep Sixes Libby Lu, Tween Girls Weep Rhinestone Tears
In this economy, something had to give. That it was the place tween girls go to get whored dressed up in feather boas and glitter make-up proves we might just be ready to leave the lipstick behind us and move on.
Bought by Saks Fifth Avenue in 2003, Club Libby Lu has been billing itself as the go-to spot for the birthday girl who wants to have everything and parents who will pay for it. The cheapest “Libby Du” package gets a girl a sash and keepsake frame, goodie bag, compact glitter and temporary tattoos and a Libby Du with one accessory. That’s $25 . . . per girl. When’s the last time you saw a tween girl who could pick between her best friends for her sweet eleven? Come on, Tiffany’s her best friend, but Taylor’s her bestest friend, and ooooh, Mommmmm, she can’t go without Ashleeeee.
Now she’ll just go without, period. Libby Lu got the axe as Saks faces projections that companies reliant on Manhattan-based sales will suffer significantly this holiday season. Twenty percent of the company’s earnings come from its flagship store in New York City, but the big spenders who’ve lost big on Wall Street in recent months won’t likely be lighting up Fifth Avenue this year.
Their little darlings won’t be partying at the mall much longer either, apparently. Club Libby Lu’s seventy-eight stand-alone shops and twenty boutiques located within department stores will be closed within six months. The girls will have to go back to makeovers the old-fashioned way – surrounded by sleeping bags and pizza boxes with MTV providing the soundtrack and their little brothers providing the irritation.
They can cry all they want, but they’ll have to get in line for the tissues. In this economy, Mom and Dad have already wept their way through a box or two.
Source: CNN Money, via Jezebel
Image: Club Libby Lu
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I somehow managed to get through all of the tween years with my daughter and never step foot in one of these. Phew. I think that tweens (and their parents) are moving away from the glam-them-up-young thing. Kids and parents who shop at my kids’ clothing store all tell me they are relieved to find fashionable kids clothes without sparkles, low cut necklines, and blingy slogans on the rear end.
I’m fairly certain my daughter, and half of her second grade class, came away from a visit to Libby Lu with head lice from those nasty, slutty costumes they let the kids put on after making them up to look like tramps. Good riddance.