344’s Gone: Is Petra Lexington a Replacement?

The trend-chasing young womens clothing store 344 shuttered its Lexington Center location last week, fading away after a month-long liquidation sale.

As the “alternative apparel” chain store prepared to leave town, an independent boutique, Petra Lexington, has been busy preparing to set up shop a little ways down the street.

Over the past couple of weeks, a few Patch readers have wondered whether the incoming business would fill the niche vacated by the outgoing store. The answer, in short: Not so much.

, targeted younger women with styles that skewed toward the alternative. The store’s mix of trendy and a little bit edgy items catered mostly to teens and twentysomethings.

. The game plan is to feature an inventory of upscale items that are likely to appeal more to women in their 30s and older, who are looking for something a little bit different.  

“I’m really making it a point to have things nobody else does,” said Petra Hoffman, the storeowner, in an interview last month. “I don’t want to compete with Belmont. I don’t want to compete with Concord; no one.”