ROLL IN: Volcom opened a store on Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade. It will serve as a space for inspiration and experimentation for the boardsports and fashion company. (Photo courtesy of Volcom.)
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Volcom Back in LA Area
Volcom, one of the major core sports brands based in Orange County, Calif., is bringing its retail back to Los Angeles County.
The company opened a Volcom boutique on Oct. 15 at 1340 Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, Calif. The street is one of the Los Angeles area’s premiere shopping districts, and it hosts shops for vertical retailers including American Apparel, All Saints Spitalfields, Anthropologie, H&M, Hard Tail and Forever 21.
Los Angeles County last saw a Volcom boutique in 2011, when the brand closed its Los Angeles shop on La Brea Avenue. The store was shuttered because retail traffic on the street declined, said Rocky Taylor, Volcom’s North America retail director. La Brea continues to be the address for prominent retailers such as American Rag.
Volcom is a division of Kering, a Paris-headquartered conglomerate that also owns Puma, Electric, St. Laurent, Balenciaga, Stella McCartney and Brioni. Volcom opened a 2,200-square-foot Third Street Promenade store to show the entire breadth of its collection, which ranges from men’s and women’s to juniors and children’s fashions and accessories, along with retail-only collections such as T-shirts bearing graphics from local artists. Because Third Street Promenade is located a few blocks away from one of Los Angeles County’s most popular beaches, the shop will focus on beach clothes during summers.
The Third Street Promenade store was designed for an urban ambiance. There is little wood in the boutique. Rather, there is exposed brick, metal fixtures and a “heritage” wall bearing posters from Volcom’s 22-year history. The store’s design was made unique with an “accordion” door, which can be pushed into the boutique’s wall. “The front of the store flows into the street,” Taylor said. “It will bring more people in.”
The shop was designed by Volcom’s in-house team and Paris-based architect group Interbrand. The new shop’s interior will serve as a prototype for upcoming Volcom stores, said Eric John, Volcom’s vice president of global retail.
The new store will also serve as a space for inspiration and experimentation for Volcom’s executives and designers, based in Costa Mesa.
“The proximity allows us to try new things and have events,” John said. “It allows the mad scientists in the creative department to interact with one of Volcom’s premier retail stores. They’ll develop and learn what impacts the products have on our customer and learn how to better serve our customer.”
