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The Leverage to Open Los Angeles Store
After wholesaling its brands to retailers that range from Pacific Sunwear to Zumiez, The Leverage is opening a new boutique in Los Angeles.
Leverage Los Angeles is scheduled to open its doors June 1, said Chris Ngo, the company’s co-owner. The 2,000-square-foot store will be located at 170 S. La Brea Ave., in the midst of a bustling neighborhood featuring high-marquee retailers such as American Rag and boutiques for popular brands including Champion, Stone Island and Stüssy.
The shop will feature concrete floors and white walls and showcase different brand installations, which will change frequently.
Consumer research was one reason the company decided to open an outpost. Executives thought it would help the brand’s designers see what their shoppers do and don’t like. Inside the space, The Leverage also will build administrative and design offices.
The boutique’s merchandise will include denim brands Crysp Denim, Embellish and Never End. There will also be streetwear brands including Lifted Anchors and the Karter Collection. Other Leverage brands to be sold include Haus of Jr. and ZO2 by Big Baller Brand, which was founded by LaVar Ball, father of basketball-playing brothers Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo.
In 2012, The Leverage was launched in Irvine, Calif., as a sales agency. Business partners Ngo and Lee Ramirez specialized in a niche ignored by many other salespeople—selling clothes to successful, independent boutiques in minority neighborhoods throughout the United States.
In 2014, The Leverage started designing its own brands, such as Embellish. Success followed, and in 2016 the company had $20 million in revenue, Ngo said.
