Will Chanel Boutique Change Robertson?
The big buzz on Robertson Boulevard is not about the latest premium denim or celebrity sightings. It’s about iconic design brand Chanel opening a boutique on the high-profile Los Angeles retail street, which in the past 10 years seems to have been almost exclusively the mainstay of expensive jeans, T-shirts and pop-culture items.
The legendary French fashion house will open a boutique at 125 N. Robertson Blvd., which formerly housed a boutique for English fashion brand Ghost, according to sources familiar with the deal. Chanel declined comment for this story. Dembo & Associates, the Beverly Hills, Calif.–based real estate company that leased space for the former Ghost boutique, also did not comment for this article.
Chanel’s interest in Robertson follows the announcement in early February that $2.1 billion New York luxury accessories company Coach Inc.will open a Coach Legacy boutique at 112 S. Robertson this fall.
The burgeoning interest of big luxury brands on Robertson has the street’s independent retailers wondering how the new neighbors will change the neighborhood.
“People don’t come to Robertson to see something that they would find in Paris or London,” said Fraser Ross, owner of Robertson boutique Kitson. “They come for stuff that they’d only find in a Los Angeles store.”
Yasmine Farmanara, co-owner of Avedon, a high-end menswear store that moved to Robertson on Dec. 22, said she believes designer brands setting up shop on the street will attract a new class of shoppers to the area.
“It’s going to bring a different customer base that is into buying couture names,” Farmanara said. “It’s going to divert some business from Rodeo Drive.” Chanel maintains a boutique at 400 N. Rodeo Drive, which is in a retail neighborhood for some of the world’s best-known luxury fashion brands, such as Prada, Versace, Dior and Gucci. Chanel also runs boutiques in the South Coast Plaza shopping center in Costa Mesa, Calif., and in San Francisco.
Skyrocketing Los Angeles real estate prices are one reason for the steady flow of iconic brands moving to Robertson. Commercial real estate prices for the most coveted sections of Robertson, between Alden Drive and Third Street, have jumped 30 percent to 50 percent in six months, according to Matthew May, president of Encino, Calif.–based May Realty Advisors.
The price per square foot for commercial space increased from more than $12 per square foot in September 2006 to the current $15 to $17, according to May, who made the deal to bring the True Religion store to Robertson, as well as recently renewed the lease of Robertson pioneer Lisa Kline.
May said the street is not in danger of becoming a second Rodeo Drive. “What could hurt the street is if it had too much of the same retail. You want product diversification. If you have the range of retail from American Apparel to Chanel, you’re going to have a great street that people will want to walk,” May said.
