Luxury handbag reseller Madison Avenue Couture debuts new showroom on Palm Beach’s Worth Avenue

• Madison Avenue Couture was founded in 2010 in New York City.
• The Palm Beach showroom, at 38 Via Mizner, is the company’s second to open after its New York City location.

The newest storefront to open on Palm Beach’s famed Worth Avenue has built a distinguished reputation in the luxury accessory market.

Madison Avenue Couture at 38 Via Mizner is a leading reseller of authentic, rare, and collectible ultra-luxury handbags, branded jewelry, and accessories, according to president and CEO Judy Taylor. The 2,000-square-foot space within Via Mizner is the company’s second, following its flagship location in New York City.

Taylor, who founded the company in 2010, said Palm Beach was an ideal expansion spot for Madison Avenue Couture because of its growing customer base.

“A lot of our existing customers are here, so they like the idea that they don’t have fly up to New York if they want to see a bag,” she told the Daily News. “You can drive from Miami to here. It becomes a hub for us, for its location, if we want to do an event in Miami, or if we want to do an event in Naples. We can do both. Miami is too broad of a customer base. Palm Beach was just perfect.”

So was Worth Avenue, Taylor said.

When she and Alexis Clarbour, the company’s vice president for sales and business strategy, were trying to decide between opening their store in Palm Beach or Miami, a visit to the upscale shopping and dining district ultimately convinced them.

“We already had a client base here, but we were trying to figure it all out,” Clarbour said. “Then once we went on to Worth Avenue, we knew this fit with our brand. This is our clientele.”

As for Via Mizner, the area was “so lively,” Taylor said. She and Clarbour visited two other locations along Worth Avenue before settling there.

“It has such a great vibe,” she said.

The company’s expansion to Palm Beach highlights its commitment to serving sophisticated clients who appreciate the finest luxury goods, Taylor said.

The Worth Avenue showroom houses an extensive collection of rare and highly valued Hermès and Chanel handbags, as well as a limited inventory of branded fine jewelry and accessories. The store offers a wide range of price points, from $3,000 for Goyard bags to nearly six figures for exotic Hermès Birkins.

All items are meticulously authenticated before they are sold, Taylor said.

“I think that we’re recognized in the industry as having the best when it comes to Hermès,” Taylor said. “I think there’s some that do us equally good in other brands, but I don’t think there’s anybody that would say that there is a secondary market company, a reseller, that authenticates the way we authenticate. We are the best in terms of authentication, and in terms of condition, we have an input team that will look at the bag and make sure that that bag, if it’s new, it’s new. If it’s mint, it’s really mint.”

Customers visiting the showroom can purchase available handbags and accessories in-store and arrange for in-store pickup or shipping. Shoppers also can request select items from the Madison Avenue Couture website to be brought to the Palm Beach location for a private viewing.

For added convenience, the Palm Beach showroom facilitates private in-home viewings and consignment pickups to create an effortless luxury shopping experience, Clarbour said.

“I think what it comes down to with our clientele is, we’re talking about very affluent, very educated, very successful people,” she said. “They do not want to be treated a certain way. They want it tomorrow, or they want it today and we’ve been able to give them an authenticated item. We’re trusted, and we have amazing customer service. They want it today, they get it today. They want it tomorrow, there’s overnight shipping.”

Madison Avenue Couture started as an online business focusing before expanding its presence in the luxury resale market. Taylor said she realized early on that Hermès and Chanel, and in part Louis Vuitton, were the most sought-after “holy grail” items among luxury shoppers.

“As we evolved, we realized something had to do with the brand,” she said. “We realized that Hermès had become so difficult to get, that the ability for us to provide women and men who gift women easy access, or frictionless access, to these bags was an attribute. It was something that people really wanted.”

The Madison Avenue Couture showroom is open by appointment Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with walk-ins welcomed on Friday and Saturday. Identification is required for walk-ins.

To schedule an appointment, contact pb@madisonavenuecouture.com or 561-318-7664.

Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com.

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