Tradesmen and The General Store open in Venice
A pair of beautifully-designed stores have opened on a part of Lincoln Blvd. in Venice block that was previously naked of any cutting-edge retail: Tradesmen, stocked with classic, “easy, well-made masculine” clothes that will transform boys into handsome men; and The General Store a den of just plain cool stuff originating in San Francisco, opens its second location a few doors down.
If Tradesmen looks meticulously designed—from the way that canvas belts are rolled into wheels and styled in a cluster on vintage trunks, to the clipboards with hand-typed product information—its because it is. Co-founders Ruben Leal and Doug Behner both came from The Gap and worked as director of visual merchandising and windows concepts for North America, respectively.
from left, Doug Behner and Ruben Leal
Leal said going to Tokyo to do denim research, to Europe on “inspiration trips” and seeing your work in hundreds of doors was great, but The Gap is a corporate structure. And Tradesman is an anti-mall, Main Street kind of store.
The big-picture vision was military and industrial as the base with “elements of natural woods and leather to keep it really warm. We don’t want it to be slick. Think of it as a work I progress so as we go, we can add and change it. At The Gap, you had a wall. You could only build it out so many different ways,” Leal said.
During this store visit, Behner’s hands were wet with blue paint from updating the windows. The clothes are extensions of their own personal closets with brands such as Archival, VSTR, The West is Dead, Palmer Trading Co and Tellason Denim that also have origin stories that they can share with their customers. “People appreciate that,” Leal said.
Not all, but most brands carried at Tradesmen are domestically based and produced.
A few doors down, The General Store greets you with a slice-of-wood floating island that is beyond anything you’ve ever seen. The shopgirl said it was driven slowly, on a trailer, for a very long drive all the way from Northern California.
seriously. This is a commanding slice of lumber.
The San Francisco shop was founded by artists Serena Mitnik-Miller and Mason St. Peter. As artists, their selections tended towards the curious, and things with tactile dimension. For example, a Cloud Collectors book, handmade moccasins by Beatrice Valenzuela, foliage-happy home accessories and un-precious vintage clothing. The Venice shop is similar to the original, with some new clothes by Black Crane and Gravel Gold and special selection by new partner Hannah Henderson who works for the brand engineering studio, POP Studio. Based on the creative studio’s work on the Quiksilver Women’s line, VSTR and Penny Stock Co., her pickings can only be awe-inspiring.
inspiring emboridery seen on some vintage tops at The General Store
