Fifi Collection Plans Retail Chain
Fifi Collection will open its first retail store on March 13 at the Glendale Galleria in Glendale, Calif.
The 5-year-old young contemporary label also plans to open three more stores this year in the Beverly Center, the South Coast Plaza and the Topanga Plaza, said company owner Arie Abekasis.
“We’re trying to grow bigger,” Abekasis said. “Retail stores are basically the way to do that.”
He reported the company’s wholesale earnings doubled to $5 million in 2003 and forecast wholesale earnings would double again in 2004.
The company signed a five-year lease with the Glendale Galleria. Retail price points will range from $60 to $150 for everything from tops to outerwear, including down and fauxsuede jackets. Fifi Collection Designer Jason Lian helped shape the look of the store.
Fifi Collection is a division of Los Angeles– based L’Orient Industries Inc., which has manufactured private-label clothing since 1996 and is also owned by Abekasis. —A.A.
