Interior of Venice Heights. Photo courtesy of paulina castelli.
VENICE HEIGHTS
After Abbot Kinney Experiment, Castelli’s New Store
After starting an interesting experiment in retail real estate on Los Angeles’ high-profile Abbot Kinney Boulevard, Paulina Castelli moved her men’s fashion and gifts boutique off of the street to another part of Los Angeles’ Venice section, which she forecasts will blossom into another retail neighborhood.
Castelli opened a boutique called Venice Heights at 812 Lincoln Blvd. last month. A grand-opening party is scheduled for June 12. The new shop is located a mile away from the former digs of a boutique, also called Venice Heights, that was located at 1638 Abbot Kinney Blvd. At the former address, she developed and produced a novel program where brands would take over the 650-square-foot space for pop-up shops for more than a month. Between pop-up engagements, she would run the Venice Heights shop, which focused on emerging designers, art, accessories and gifts.
Her ideas got a lot of attention. In February, popular New York streetwear and high-end sneaker shop Kith produced its first West Coast store in the space. Before she moved, Freenote, an Orange County menswear brand, opened a pop-up shop at the address. In July, Buck Mason, another menswear brand, is scheduled to take possession of 1638 Abbot Kinney Blvd. for a permanent store.
She moved because she and the space’s landlord had different ideas for the location. She also felt that Abbot Kinney had not met its potential as a fashion street despite developing a reputation for being one of Los Angeles’ popular retail thoroughfares in the past few years. “It’s frustrating. There are tons of people, but they are not buying anything unless it is a $20 item,” she said.
Not all Abbot Kinney retailers agree with Castellli’s assessment, however. Christopher Rosen, owner of Guild, a boutique located at 1335 Abbot Kinney Blvd., noted that his store often sells $2,000 jackets from high-end designers such as Haider Ackermann as well as Los Angeles designer Greg Lauren. However, Rosen said that the street did go through a change after GQ magazine dubbed it the “coolest block in America” in 2013. During that year, a lot of affluent people visited the street to look for unique fashion experiences. After the story was published, a lot of nationally known retailers moved onto the street, and some high-end shoppers started shopping at other places, he said.
Castelli forecast that a neighborhood with funky, art-inspired businesses will develop on Lincoln Boulevard. Currently, high-end cold-pressed juice bar Juice Served Here runs a popular location at 609 S. Lincoln Blvd. Clutch, a hip restaurant, serves Northern Mexican cuisine at 427 Lincoln Blvd. Theme eatery Café 50s also does business at 838 Lincoln Blvd.
Venice Heights moved into China Inn Gallery, an art space on the former grounds of China Inn, a neighborhood restaurant that featured a unique neon sign with Chinese lettering and the name of the restaurant. The restaurant sign will continue to be posted on her new space. She also will continue to stock the brands that she sold at her former space, such as Matiere, Wolf & Man and Krammer & Stoudt. The space also will regularly host gallery shows from painters and photographers such as Dennis Morris, Rolland Berry and Chase, a street artist who only goes by one name.
