Max & Co. Begins U.S. Invasion

Max & Co., a division of Italy’s MaxMara Fashion Group, has opened three stores in California and has an additional store planned for Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

In August, the company opened boutiques in the Beverly Center in Los Angeles and South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. This month it opened a third store at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto. In October, it will open in the Mandalay Bay Shopping Center.

Max & Co. operates 338 free-standing stores around the world, but the California stores are the first in the United States.

The company is planning another store for Southern California in late 2004, but it has not yet decided on a location. Max & Co. expects to open 40 to 50 units in the United States during the next five to six years. —Christian M. Chensvold