By Peter Healy
Staff Writer

A high-end furniture store is set to replace longtime clothier Razooks at 45 E. Putnam Ave. in downtown Greenwich’s prime shopping area.

The Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams chain expects to open the 5,200-square-foot store in November after renovations. The furniture space has 80 feet of street frontage and a full basement.


“We’ve always had an interest in Greenwich and our loyal customers have expressed interest in having our brand represented there,” Mitchell Gold, co-founder and chairman of the privately held $100 million chain, said in a statement. “Greenwich has become the ultimate retail experience, not only for the local Greenwich market, but for the surrounding areas as well. We wanted to be a part of it.”

The Keleshian family, owner of the building at East Putnam Avenue and Church Street, sought a tenant other than a clothing store, of which it has several.

“The landlord was determined to find the best possible synergy with the other tenants at the property, among them Cashmere Inc., Elsebe, J. McLaughlin, Patricia Gourlay and Vision Consultants of Greenwich,” said Cory Gubner, president and chief executive officer of GVA Williams of Connecticut commercial real estate.

GVA Williams had been marketing the former Razooks space. Razooks closed about a year ago.

Furniture stores rarely come to pricey, fashionable retail strips such as East Putnam Avenue near Greenwich Avenue, said Thomas Torelli, managing partner of Allied Property Group in Greenwich. He said furniture shopping usually is a planned trip, not an impulse buy.

“They certainly are welcome, and they definitely will diversify the town’s retail base,” Torelli said of Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams.

The company operates 14 stand-alone, or “signature,” stores in Atlanta; Boston; Los Angeles; Washington, D.C.; Seattle; Palm Springs, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; Miami; and other cities. Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams also has three stores within other merchants’ properties.

About 60 retailers sell Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams furniture in their stores. They include Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware, which has a store on Greenwich Avenue. Design Solutions in New Canaan and Lillian August Designs in Norwalk also sell Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams products.

Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams plans to add signature stores this year in New York City, Houston and Nashville, Tenn.

Its factory headquarters is in Taylorsville, N.C.

Robert Draizen, managing director of New York City-based Robert K. Futterman & Associates commercial real estate, represented Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams in negotiations for its long-term lease.

Gubner, Scott Lifschultz and Deirdre Corcoran Foote of GVA Williams of Connecticut represented the landlord.

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