The Real Real storefront

The Real Real storefront

IT’S REAL

The Real Real Brings Its First West Coast Location to West

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The Real Real men’s store

With a lot more space than its New York City flagship store, which opened in November, luxury consignment company The Real Real opened its first West Coast bricks-and-mortar location on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood, Calif.

At 12,000 square feet, the new space that opened July 31 is approximately double the size of its SoHo location and will feature the brand’s first men’s store, which measures nearly 6,000 square feet.

“[On Melrose] there is so much culture and experimentation happening. That is how we think about our stores,” said Rati Levesque, the company’s chief merchant. “We are using them as testing grounds to see how people are engaging with the product, how we can merchandise differently and services we can offer.”

Using its proprietary Real Real 360 technology, associates at the Los Angeles store can help customers explore inventory across the brand’s bricks-and-mortar locations, mobile, e-commerce and consignment offices.

Nearly everything in the Los Angeles store is for sale, including sculptures by Vincent Szarek and other works commissioned for the space through a collaboration between The Real Real’s art director, Bianca Wendt, and a local artist. The store’s apparel and lifestyle offerings include goods that range in price from beauty pieces at $10 to $60,000 fine-jewelry pieces.

“It’s been really great on the consignment side and the demand side. It’s exceeding expectations. There is great engagement on the consignor side—there are tons of drop-offs,” Levesque said. “Traffic expectations have also exceeded our plans.”

Following the opening of its location in New York City, The Real Real noticed that its bricks-and-mortar businesses would benefit from expanding their men’s sections. With the new Los Angeles space, the brand created a men’s store designed to invite male clients into an experiential environment with a watch-and-whiskey bar and sneaker installation, which boasts designs from Yeezy, Supreme and vintage Nike footwear priced from approximately $100 to $10,000.

“What we did in this location was dedicate a whole store to the men’s business. They have their own entrance. There is so much happening around men’s right now,” Levesque explained. “Being able to highlight that, which we’ve never been able to do in a bricks-and-mortar, is special for us.”

For shoppers who crave a fix to satisfy their needs for designer handbags, The Real Real included a 1,500-square-foot vault that features luxury designs from Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Prada, Givenchy and independent designers.

“Our merchandisers curate a very special selection using data based on what’s selling well in LA, what people are obsessing over and what they are consigning,” Levesque said.

The Real Real offers handbag refurbishing services and experts who specialize in gemology, horology and authentication. This fell in line with The Real Real’s businesmodel of aligning the brand with clients as a resource for preserving luxury goods in hopes of becoming future business partners.

“Everything we do is really around this core value of extending the lifecycle of your luxury good,” Levesque revealed. “We believe that once you’re done with it, you’ll consign it with us.”

As the luxury resale segment of the industry continues to grow, Levesque would like the industry to take notice of the relationship between her business and the traditional retail market for high-end goods.

“Our customers and consignors are consigning with us, and they’re taking that money and buying new,” she said. “It does complete that lifecycle of luxury instead of throwing it out. Quality matters.”