I am not *exactly* sure what’s going on at The Ludlow Suit Shop on Hudson at Thomas — and neither is J. Crew. “Our apologies, but I’m not sure what’s happening in the photos you attached. We don’t have any information indicating that the store is closing, just that it’s operating with reduced hours and is set to reopen this Friday at 10a.”

I think for these times, this qualifies as good news. It’s a prominent and lovely shop, and for a minute there it looked like they were clearing out. The workers told me they are renovating; the new stencil seems to be for their “Cozy Does It Shop” line of merch with the tagline “Wear what makes you comfy.”

The company had the unfortunate distinction of being the first major retailer to file for bankruptcy during the pandemic — in early May. At that point, it had 181 J. Crew stores, 140 Madewell stores and 170 factory stores. It started reopening stores in June and emerged from Chapter 11 in early September. The plan is to reopen many of the stores across the country, minus a couple dozen.

As it is, the store is only open four days a week, Friday through Monday. The store in Brookfield and the Soho shop, on Broadway and Broome, are closed on Tuesdays only. I would check the website for hours.