U.K. Store to Open 50 U.S. Stores
London-based retailer Reiss hopes to start another British invasion with its recently opened boutique on Los Angeles’ Robertson Boulevard.
The company currently runs more than seven stores in America, but the lifestyle brand eventually plans to build 50 boutiques in the United States, according to Laurie Marco, Reiss’ director of retail. “We are going through a major growth spurt in the U.K. and the U.S, and we’re just at the beginning in America,” Marco said.
Reiss operates another California boutique in San Francisco. The Robertson Boulevard store opened May 10. Marco said that Reiss executives, including founder David Reiss, have been scouting real estate in other California locales, including Malibu and Palo Alto.
The privately owned company will open a boutique in Boca Raton, Fla., in October. In addition to its two California stores, Reiss also runs three stores in New York and single stores in Boston and Washington, D.C.’s Georgetown section.
The British label specifically hopes to offer something new to America’s fashion landscape by carving out what Marco called a “luxury-bridge” niche. Reiss fashions will be moderately priced, but they will be fashionforward and made from materials that approach the luxury category. Men’s suits price points range from $700 to $1,000. Price points for dresses range from $250 to $500.
The market may have space for the luxury-bridge category, said Mercedes Gonzalez, director of New York–based buying company Global Purchasing Cos. “It’s a missing niche in the market,” she said. Gonzales said Emporio Armani fills a similar niche by serving a consumer who wants a designer look and a high level of customer service, yet doesn’t want to pay designer prices. —Andrew Asch
