Menswear Lands Retailer Coveted Real Estate
The often-heard complaint that Orange County, Calif., is over-retailed takes a special meaning in the high-profile tourist town of Laguna Beach.
Last year, the City Council denied a conditional-use permit to Sophea Parros. The Pasadena, Calif.–based mini-emporium of contemporary womenswear applied for a permit to open a store on Forest Avenue, one of Laguna’s most heavily trafficked retail streets. One reason the retailer’s request was rejected was that the town had an abundance of boutiques selling women’s apparel.
One year later, The Vault menswear boutique will open Aug. 15 at 381 Forest Ave., the same address once reserved for Sophea Parros. Eugene Gratz, the lawyer who handled the conditional-use permit requests for both retailers, said The Vault sailed through the city’s rigorous review process.
One reason it did, Gratz said, was that The Vault planned to sell men’s clothes in a city with a dearth of menswear boutiques. “It’s a running joke in Laguna Beach,” he said. “A man can’t buy socks or a pair of underwear in this town.”
Although the town’s planning department can be demanding, Gratz contended that most retailers could find a place in the Laguna Beach market. They just have to learn how to persevere and deal with a city government, businesses and residents who are protective of their town’s unique character. “They are not anticompetitive,” Gratz said.
The Vault’s debut will represent a new chapter in the more than 3-year-old business partnership of Los Angeles–based retailers Gila Leibovitch and Johnny Alper. At the retailers’ four other stores, price points range from $69 to $199 for brands such as Fender, Artine and Guess. The Vault will offer higher price points of $199–$500 for labels such as Rock & Republic, Ted Baker, Just Cavalli and Mark Nason.
Leibovitch began her business in 1993 with a nowdefunct boutique called Deacute;jagrave; vu on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. She and Alper currently run Blowout Mens and Matrix, both on Melrose.
They also own Premier Men in Los Angeles’ Beverly Center shopping mall and Melrose Place, a 500-square-foot store that is two storefronts from The Vault in Laguna Beach.
Another reason for The Vault’s successful bid for a conditional-use permit from the town is that the owners are a known entity; Melrose Place has been doing business in Laguna Beach since 2004.
Leibovitch and Alper named their new venture The Vault because the boutique space once housed a bank vault. After Sophea Parros dropped its bid for the space, building owner Landmark Plaza Inc. divided the 5,000-square-foot building. The Vault takes up 1,000 square feet, and a home furnishings store has the rest of the space.
The boutique’s bank vault concrete floors and walls were restored to their original state. Much of the shop’s future demographic is forecast to be the likes of banking executives, Leibovitch said. “We’re not catering to the young club-goer. We’re catering to a successful man whose average age is 40. They want to feel young, and they’re sick of dressing in Tommy Bahama.”
She expects The Vault to do as well as, if not better than, Melrose Place, which had $1.2 million in sales in 2005. Leibovitch and Alper’s goal is to own more than 10 menswear boutiques. —Andrew Asch
