J. McLaughlin leaving downtown for Somerset

J. McLauglin, a clothing store featuring classic clothes and accessories for men and women, is leaving its outpost in downtown Birmingham for a new spot at the Somerset Collection.

J. McLaughlin, located at 268 W. Maple Road, was one of the first national retailers of recent times to come to downtown Birmingham. The first J. McLaughlin was opened by brothers Kevin and Jay McLaughlin in 1977 in an Ivy League enclave on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, and according to their website, “was was a well-bred kind of place with a welcoming, faded-paint, cozy chair feel. Today, with over 100 stores and a thriving e-commerce business, J.McLaughlin celebrates their continued success as uber-classic American clothiers and one of the country’s last great first-name-basis retailers.”

Jennifer Faraj, store manager for Birmingham, said they will be moving to the second floor of the Somerset Collection South sometime in late spring 2018, before June. The size of the store will be similarly small and cozy, with the new space at 975 square feet, about the same size they currently have.

“To customers it will look larger because we have four back rooms now, and it will have just one smaller back room,” Faraj said.