LAFAYETTE, CALIFORNIA – In the retail world, national decisions sometimes have local consequences.
Sadly, that’s the case with a prominent and centrally located clothing boutique in downtown Lafayette.
Although it’s not clear how the local store was doing, a decision to shutter all locations in California (and perhaps nationally) means this local branch will be going under, too.
The Bay Area Telegraph confirmed with staff that the local store is liquidating its inventory and preparing to close down.
The affected store in francesca’s (the lack of capitalization is apparently part of the brand, so both you and our spellcheck will have to trust us on this one.)
The Lafayette shop is listed as francesca’s Clocktower #379, located at 3569 Mt Diablo Blvd, Lafayette. It’s right by Maker’s Market, and is very visible downtown.
It sells women’s clothing, and it’s had a lot of sales over the last few years. That might indicate a long-brewing problem that’s finally led to the broad closures.
The good news is that–although francesca’s is apparently going to shutter–the Clocktower is in much better shape now than a few years ago.
As we documented before, the shopping center was struggling post pandemic. Most of the local shops had closed down. We lost Bell and Bunna Books, which was a real shame.
Then, things turned around when Breakfast Club entered the picture.
The popular Lafayette restaurant brought in lots of foot traffic. Now, the Clocktower is full again.
The loss of francesa’s will therefore hurt for a bit, but the space will almost certainly be filled fairly quickly, given how much the Clocktower now seems to be thriving.
This is all very preliminary, mind you. francesca’s just announced the broader closures this week, and we’ve just confirmed the news. That means we don’t have an estimated closure date yet.
But, I will let you know as soon as we learn all the details. And, I will of course be monitoring to see what comes in next, as soon as a new tenant for the space is announced.
