The New York Times may have formerly described Madewell as "Skipper to J. Crew's Barbie," but we think the all-American men's and women's retailer has done a great job tailoring to San Francisco's interests (a city with a steady reputation for rejecting larger-scale commercial chains). The new-to-SF retailer officially opened its doors yesterday at the Westfield Shopping Center on Market Street, and is stocked full of San Francisco-approved summer threads from plaid and chambray button downs, to comfy cotton v-neck pocket tees, and stacks of glorious white and blue denim from their popular high riser and rail straight lines.
"We try to tailor every store to each market specifically because it feels more genuine. You want to walk into a store and feel like you're shopping where you are," states Madewell's Director of Marketing, Gigi Guerra, on the new location.
Even more Bay Area-appropriate is Madewell's latest installment, "Hometown Heros," which works one-on-one with 7x7 magazine to bring customers closer to the local designers in the area by offering everything from organic, wooden bottle openers and postcards, to handmade barrettes and jewelry.
"We just launched Hometown Heros in our New York store and are now running it out here. There are so many great local designers doing cool things, and we wanted to offer some things that we really love and admire locally," states Guerra.
