Au Revoir, Anne & Valentin! French EyeWear Boutique To Close Smith Street Location

Anne & Valentin, a high-end French eyewear boutique that got its start in Toulouse, has just announced that it will be closing its Boerum Hill location at the end of this month.  An email to current customers reads:  "We chose your neighborhood because of its strong and vibrant community and we have loved being part of it. It felt like home and we will dearly miss it. Anne & Valentin and its entire team want to sincerely thank you for your tremendous support. It's been incredible being your neighbor!"

Gabriel, the reader who sent PMFA the announcement regarding the closing of the store, wrote:
"I have been a longtime fan of their glasses, pricey but stylish, and was surprised when they opened a store a few years back. But I always wondered how our neighborhood was going to sustain a whole store. It seems like Smith St. might not be ready for high-end retail, despite what I am sure the landlords wish."

Anne & Valentin had opened at 200 Smith Street in early 2015.
Customers can continue to find them at their two other locations in Manhattan, 2 Prince Street and 248 Columbus Avenue.


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Anne Et Valentin: French Eyewear Store Coming To Smith Street Soon

In recent months, quite a few new and mostly expensive eyewear stores have been popping up in and around the neighborhood. The trend seems to have started with Moscot on Court Street.
Smith Street in particular has attracted some new eyewear stores.  Just a few months ago, See opened at 160 Smith Street, though James Leonard Opticians and Oculus are each just one block away.

Obviously, saturation point has not been reached, because Anne et Valentin, a French eyewear design duo, will be opening a store at 200 Smith Street in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn.
They began their company thirty years ago in Toulouse.  Today, they have stores in Toulouse, Paris and one on Prince Street in Manhattan and  their designs are distributed worldwide.

From  Anne et Valentin's website:
From day one, rather than trying to adapt the customer to a frame,  Anne and Valentin opt for a deeper comprehension of who their customers are - how they move, live and think - in order to find, for each, the perfect frame,  dedicated to the customer’s unique personality and particularities.

So far all these new eyewear places seem to survive in the neighborhood. Obviously there seems to be growing market for more expensive glasses.

Where have you been shopping for yours lately?

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