Branding in Action: Going From Established to Eponymous

For more than 50 years, a children’s boutique named Fierson’s has been operating on Kraft Avenue in Bronxville. Generations of families have passed under the store’s green-and-white door sign to purchase high-end baby gifts. But this January, the sign’s stripes took on a different hue, and the store became known by a new name: Adrian East, after the woman who has owned the boutique for the last 12 years.

Why the switch? “Customers no longer shop here because of the Fierson’s name,” East says. “As the owner, I have built a solid foundation and following. Customers respect my integrity, my honest feedback, and my particular aesthetic.” 

East wanted to modernize the brand and liked the “short, simple, elegant, upscale, and au courant” sound of her own name. She has also flirted with expansion and says a second store on Madison Avenue, or in Greenwich or East Hampton, with the Fierson’s name wouldn’t make sense. “Why would I move forward with a name that I bought, but no longer relate to? I am the brand and I want to be able to stand behind it, fully, proudly,” she explains.

Though the rebrand was a gut decision (she did not work with any outside marketing or branding consultants), East spoke to many loyal customers, all of whom supported the name change. And she put her years of marketing experience to work in selecting fonts, logos, and colors that she says “keep the distinctive, instantly identifiable look of Fierson’s, but in a more modern way.”

Has it worked? East says it will take a year or two to determine whether her decision was “ludicrous, gutsy, and stupid. or smart, bold, and savvy.”

Before

After