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For all the brand reinventions Arnell Group has done in its three decades in business, the one it couldn't stage was its own. The once-popular branding shop named after its founder, Peter Arnell, is closing its doors.
The closure comes nearly two years after one of the oddest succession moves Madison Avenue has ever seen: In 2011 Sara Arnell took over as CEO, somewhat reluctantly, as her now-ex-husband, Peter, left amidst a lawsuit with Omnicom.
"I was surprised--like a lot of people in the industry were--that [Omnicom] asked me to do it," Ms. Arnell recalled last week in an interview. "But in a funny way, who else would take it over?" In the shop's prior life, it was all about Mr. Arnell--and his celebrity relationships, which included Celine Dion, Frank Gehry, Gwyneth...