Malibu Offers Easy Shopping Experience
Cloudless skies, balmy breezes, alfresco dining and free parking are the easy-living ingredients to Malibu’s recipe for shopping success in Southern California. At the Malibu Country Mart on a recent weekday afternoon, stroller moms were basking in the sunlight watching their toddlers tumble in the sand, office workers were taking in long lunches and everyone else was ready to shop.
If area residents, tourists and celebrities don’t head to such nearby malls as Santa Monica Place and Westfield Shoppingtown Topanga, they visit the bustling outdoor Malibu shopping center flanking both sides of Cross Creek Road, where fashion boutiques are neighbors to restaurants and antiques stores. Banana Republic is the only national clothing chain located at the center.
Surprisingly, the stores, whose looks can range from $50 to $1,000, note that teenagers are some of their biggest customers.
“Kids can’t wait until they fit into our clothes, and their mommas love the fact that they still do,” said Jen Rossi, a buyer at Planet Blue boutique, a veteran retailer in the center.
The store has recently expanded its separate Planet Blue Essentials boutique with beauty products, bath items and bedding.
According to Rossi, business at the 8-year-old clothing boutique has steadily increased since the attacks of Sept. 11 as shoppers seek comfort in open spaces.
“People are staying in local neighborhoods and would prefer to hang out outside,” Rossi said.
Peasant-styled blouses and skirts by Kerry Cassil and Calpyso are the top draws at the store, she said. For dressier looks, women are buying Alvin Valley leather waistband pants in viscose and rayon. Foley’s detailed silk and Egyptian cotton dresses accented with satin strips and embroidered flowers are also shopper favorites.
In business for three years, the Giselle boutique caters to mostly thirtysomething “hip, cool moms,” said owner Lorri Innes, not to mention the celeb-heavy visitors including Janet Jackson, Cher, Madonna, Meg Ryan, Julia Roberts and Diana Ross. Innes, who also has an 11-year-old store on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica, tries to appeal to them with a little of every clothing and accessory genre from denim to chunky jewelry.
“Customers tell me this place feels like a giant closet,” said Innes, whose store carries Blujeanious, Rona’s Heart, Grass Roots and Petro Zillia.
The flavor of the moment is Riley’s thermal leggings with denim waistbands, peace-sign shirts and denim jackets with patchwork wording, according to Innes.
Miguelina silk charmeuse, bias-cut dresses with lace trims are also standout sellers, she said. Another pleaser is Monah Li’s new, romantic line, which has already sold out from the store. One customer bought 25 pieces in one day, Innes said.
Crush...an intense infatuation is a new store occupying the former Sara location. Owners Charles and Phyllis Weinberger took over in Feburary and have tweaked the inventory with more high-end wares. In July, they plan to start carrying $2,000 cashmere sweaters by French line Lucien Pellat-Finet. The line features cardigan sets, crewneck and long-sleeve sweaters accented with Swarovski crystals and skull and dragon patterns. For now, T-shirts in different colors and styles by Michael Stars and Three Dots are checking as are denim pants by Rock ’n’ Republic.
“The hardest thing about this area is that denim is monopolized—most of the boutiques have exclusives on certain lines,” said Liz Caffrey, buyer and manager for the store.
Accessories are also Crush’s strong suit. Jane Feifer leather totes in bold hues of red, pink, lavender, lime green and burnt orange are customer favorites along with Janet Gunn’s silver, semi-precious jewelry.
At Madison (which also has Los Angeles-area locations in Brentwood and on Robertson Boulevard in Beverly Hills), denim jeans by Earl Jean, Paper Denim & Cloth and Frankie B. are the cash cows drawing customers in, said manager Tanya Masuguchi. A & G cashmere sweaters in zip-up and crew-neck silhouettes with tattoo prints are catering to both younger and older customers. Skirts are also checking, Masuguchi said. Examples include Marc by Marc Jacobs trumpet skirts in corduroy and denim and Mint’s pieced-fabric sleeveless shirts and white, brushed-cotton backflap skirts.
Masuguchi also said warmer days are leading to stronger interest in bathing suits. H Starlet’s girly white terry cloth suits with rhinestone details and Salinas’ side-tie suits in stripes and floral prints are among the store’s top sellers.
Lily Harfouche tries to keep her store Atlantis more “bohemian chic” and less trendy to service both the daughters and mothers shopping there.
She said the store does well with such high-end items as Atos Lombardini butter soft suede jackets, which sold out at $900 each, as well as the line’s sleeveless V-neck dresses and calf-length skirts with tattered hems. Anja Flint’s white denim suits with leather braiding around the jacket collar are easy sellers and Flint’s fringe bags are “gone with the wind,” Harfouche said.
