American Rag Cie Heads to the O.C.
Newport Beach, Calif., one of the flash points for Orange County’s burgeoning style, has made room for the flea-market chic of American Rag Cie LLC.
Mark Werts, chief executive and founder of the company, marked the Oct. 6 opening of the 12,500-square-foot American Rag Cie at the Fashion Island shopping mall. The Orange County shop joins the American Rag Cie on Los Angeles’ La Brea Avenue, which the company has operated since1984; a store on San Francisco’s Van Ness Avenue; and 10 stores in Japan. According to Werts, the Orange County store will have no problem keeping up with his other profitable ventures.
Werts said the Fashion Island store earned more than $15,000 on Oct. 4—a Wednesday, which is usually not regarded as a high-yield day. He said he expects the store will be one of Fashion Island’s most successful retailers.
In 2008, the company plans to open a 17,000- square-foot American Rag Cie store in Las Vegas. Werts said the shop will help anchor a new development called East Village, located near McCarran International Airport.
The Orange County American Rag Cie store should seem familiar to anyone who has spent quality time at the Los Angeles store. The new shop sells vintage jeans and clothes for men and women, including apparel brands Trovata, Stuuml;ssy and Edun. There’s a footwear section offering brands such as MacBeth, Vans and Marc Jacobs. Also included is the Maison Midi houseware boutique and Cafeacute; Midi, which serves French bistro–style food.
However, the new site will sport a different look. The store’s 17-foot ceiling features exposed HVAC pipes. Store deacute;cor includes motel- style paintings of bullfighters, taxidermic heads of animals such as the springbok and old maps of the globe. With these and other features, such as a rusted ocean-liner porthole and Murano lamps, the store’s mood is eclectic and perhaps exotic, according to Werts. “It’s good taste, bad taste, my taste,” he said.
Other recent arrivals to Fashion Island include specialty stores such as Juicy, Kate Spade, BCBG Max Azria and Martin & Osa. The shopping center also is home to Bloomingdale’s; Neiman Marcus; and The Closet, a specialty store that sells some overlapping brands with American Rag Cie, such as Trovata and RVCA.
The Closet’s owner, Billy Stade, said he thinks his clientele is not the same as that of American Rag Cie, which is located a few storefronts down from his boutique. “We’re both speaking to an affluent customer,” Stade said. “But they’re speaking to a different customer. Our customers are more sports-minded.” —Andrew Asch
