Belle Gray Opens Second Store
Denim-chic specialty retailer Belle Gray, owned by actors Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin, will open a second boutique July 1 in Calabasas, Calif.
The store’s new patrons will find many of the same jeans brands that made the first Belle Gray in Sherman Oaks, Calif., a hit. But store manager/buyer Kathy Shawver said some retail changes will be made at the new location, based at the Commons in Calabasas shopping center, which is owned by Los Angeles–based Caruso Affiliated.
“It’s a different shopper, and a different area,” Shawver said. “It’s cooler at night, so we’re selling chunkier sweaters.”
Patrons will also find the Calabasas store to be larger: 1,200 square feet, compared with the 1,000 square feet of the Sherman Oaks store. The new store will debut with eight premium denim lines, including Joe Bush, Earl Jean, Level 99 and Italian line Taverniti.
The Calabasas Belle Gray will feature a men’s section retailing fashion T-shirts from manufacturers such as Los Angeles–based Grail. The section could grow to make up 30 percent of the store, according to Shawver.
The opening of the new store is part of a larger growth trend for the company. Rinna and Hamlin purchased a 4,000-square-foot warehouse near Griffith Park in Los Angeles and intend to open a third boutique by the end of the year.
The Sherman Oaks store earns $1,400 per square foot, Shawver said. “It’s a high-traffic store,” she noted. “Our customer is a woman from 16 to 60. She wears Juicy [Couture], but she also needs a beautiful dress to wear to a premiere.” —Andrew Asch
