Fifth Avenue's Takashimaya to Close

The same day that the company said it had scrapped plans for a merger with another Japanese department store, Takashimaya announced it would be closing its long-standing Fifth Avenue flagship in June.

The towering department store has long been one of the city's go-to spots for home, garden, and finely-crafted clothing and accessories -- earning it a spot on many a local's gifting go-to lists. Much like ABC 's massive store near Union Square, Takashimaya was also a destination for tourists and midday local browsers, who'd stroll through Takashimaya's artfully-decorated floors -- from the gorgeous flowers and plants on the sixth floor to the tea shop on the lower level.

The closing comes in conjunction with the news that the merger Takashimaya had been working on with H2O -- the company that owns Hankyu and Hanshin department stores -- had fallen apart. Like many American department stores, Takashimaya has also been looking for ways to cut costs and stay afloat. For Saks, it has resulted in the recent closing of an outpost in Portland; for Takashimaya, it seems, the first move is shuttering its epic (and no doubt extremely expensive) property on Fifth.

The store's website will be closing on April 2, and we'd predict that whatever sales are planned for the brick-and-mortar store's current inventory will be spectacular.

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