I am honestly not surprised at this.  The Montreal-based brand has had issues for years, and bad PR plus the lack of “style” is what caused the Jacob’s downfall.  They’ve slowly eliminated brands (they had a girls’ line back in the 80s and 90s, lingerie/lounge wear, as well as Jacob Homme.  I think Jacob Homme closed some time in the early 90s), but didn’t do much else to help improve themselves.  Their shuttering is no different from, say, Sears.  It’s not just the brand’s lack of “style,” but also pricing.  Jacob’s pieces are rarely above $100, but also not “bargain basement” pricing, either.

Jacob sign at the Manulife Centre in Yorkville

There’s a lot they could have done to improve their brand.  They could have gone trendier, like Le Chateau.  They could have gone the route of, say, H&M by collaborating with higher end designers, whether Canadian or not (wouldn’t it have been cool to see Marc Jacobs x Jacob?).  They could have worked with celebrities to come up with lines (such as Hayden Christiansen and RW&Co.).  They could have even worked with bloggers in a much bigger way (brand ambassadorships, using them as models, etc…that actually could have been a good idea, considering that they recently launched a “no retouching” poilcy).  But they never did any of that.  They tried going higher end with Joseph, but that didn’t work out.  The looks were just too plain.  We may love our little black dresses, but we can only have so many!

I’ll be sad when Jacob closes the last of its 92 stores.  I probably started wearing Jacob when I was seven or eight years old.  I’m sure some of my picture day outfits came from the store.  However, their closing will make room for other brands to expand.  Au revoir, Jacob!

Image credit: Retail Realm