California Apparel News

Over the past 15 years, Lisa Kline has pioneered and expanded fashion retailing on Los Angeles’ high-profile Robertson Boulevard, but in the next couple of months, she will be consolidating her influential Lisa Kline boutiques.

Kline will be shuttering the more than 1,800-square-foot space for her influential Lisa Kline Woman boutique at 138 S. Robertson Blvd. and combining it with the 2,400-square-foot space occupied by Lisa Kline Men at 143 S. Robertson Blvd. by Feb. 25.

However, the space will not go unoccupied. French fashion brand Paul & Joe will open its first U.S. store there and is scheduled to take possession of the space March 1. The brand manufactures contemporary fashions for men, women and children.

The consolidation of her men’s and women’s stores to one place will result in a more manageable business, something she has sought out since her husband, Robert Bryson, died in an accident in January 2009.

“It was hard running all over the place,” Kline said of trekking between two storefronts. “This simplifies my life.” Her children’s fashion store, Lisa Kline Kids, will remain in a separate location at 123 S. Robertson Blvd.

Kline first consolidated the space in her women’s store in July 2009. She felt the 2,400-square-foot space was too big and she was paying too much for rent. From July to February, she worked out of a 1,800-square-foot space at 138 S. Robertson. Beach Bunny Swimwear took over the other half of her former space at 136 S. Robertson Blvd.

The new space will help the pioneering retailer rejuvenate her brand, Kline said. “I’m going back to basics,” she said. “I’m going to be on the floor every day.” She felt that the bigger her fleet of stores became, the farther away she got from the heartbeat of her business, which was working on the floor of her boutiques.

After she moves into the new store, she will experiment with new projects to expand her brand, such as designing a fashion line for both men and women and opening an e-commerce boutique.

Kline’s consolidation is the latest news of a trend that has long affected Robertson Boulevard. Rents skyrocketed on the street, which was once best known for adventurous, independent retailing. Only prominent national retailers and brands seem to have the deep pockets to open a store on the street. “When Lisa opened 15 years ago, rents were $2 per square foot,” said Jay Luchs, who works at the Beverly Hills, Calif., offices of CB Richard Ellis. “Now they can fetch prices such as $28 per square foot.” Luchs brokered Kline’s most recent deal.

Lisa Kline and neighboring boutique Kitson are among the last of the independent Los Angeles–based, multi-line retailers that once dominated shopping around the intersection of Robertson Boulevard and Alden Drive. Kline opened her first self-named store in 1995 on Robertson, and the premium-denim category was one of the most popular items in her stores.

The shopping scene attracted socialites such as Paris Hilton and scores of paparazzi. Celebrity magazines frequently published photos of famous, young people shopping on Robertson. The hype attracted the interest of high-profile brands that wanted to be part of the street’s fashion.

During the past decade, Kline opened a fleet of more than five stores before she started consolidating. In 2008 she closed her boutique at Malibu Country Mart in Malibu, Calif.

She closed her Beverly Hills outlet store as well as her e-commerce boutique and her 4,000-square-foot headquarters building on Los Angeles’ Melrose Avenue.—Andrew Asch