Unionmade to Open in L.A.
Since opening in 2009, Unionmade has been one of San Francisco’s influential men’s fashion stores. In mid-April, the store is scheduled to open a new location in the Brentwood Country Mart retail center in Los Angeles’ exclusive Brentwood neighborhood, according to Unionmade founder Todd Barket. In late summer, Unionmade will open a third location, at the Marin Country Mart in Larkspur, Calif.
The Brentwood Unionmade will move into a 1,000-square-foot space formerly occupied by menswear store Apartment 9. With the compact space at the Brentwood Country Mart, Unionmade will feature a tightly edited merchandise mix, according to the store’s founder. “It’s Levi’s, Patagonia, The Hill-Side Accessories—we’re going to focus on stuff that we do really well with. It will be like San Francisco but more edited,” Barket said. Price points range from $20 for T-shirts to $700 for some shoes.
Unionmade’s story started in 2009 after Barket had been laid off from Gap Inc. He had worked at the retail giant for more than 19 years, climbing up the ladder from a sales associate at Gap to some executive positions such as a senior creative director for Gap’s Old Navy division.
He opened Unionmade with menswear that had a California-centric feel. “I thought it was just going to be me and my dog,” Barket said about his retail venture. “It grew faster than I expected.”
He employs six people at his 1,100-squarefoot San Francisco boutique, which includes a website at www.unionmadegoods.com. —Andrew Asch
