Kenzie Moves to Santa Monica
The Kenzie label, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, will stake its claim on the Pacific Rim this summer.
The line of fashionable clothes for 18- to 22-year-old women is scheduled to open a boutique on the Santa Monica Promenade in Santa Monica, Calif., during the weekend of May 20–22.
The Canadian company also opened a 4,100-square-foot store in Seattle’s Belleview Square in August 2005. Eric Karls, Kenzie chief executive officer, said the retail rollout will include launching five more boutiques across the United States and 12 stores in China this fall.
The 12-year-old company manufactures the labels Mac & Jac and Kenzie Girl. There are 60 Mac & Jac stores in China, and Karls said he has no plans to build Kenzie stores in Canada. He said 2005 sales for Kenzie will reach $75 million.
Kenzie sports a vintage-inspired look with wallpaper prints on skirts and jackets, according to Lani Karls, vice president of the company and Eric Karls’ wife.
“It’s vintage-inspired, but it looks modern,” she said. “It looks fresh. There’s richness of color mixed with faded lace in this line.”
Eric and Lani Karls were both working as sales representatives for multiple lines in Vancouver when they decided to manufacture their own clothes in 1993. The company became profitable in 1995.
Eric Karls also has plans for Kenzie to become a lifestyle brand, with stores selling branded eyewear, sleepwear, footwear, handbags and jewelry. —Andrew Asch
