Future Unclear for Live! On Sunset With New Development Project
The future is uncertain for emporium Live! On Sunset, the more than 8,000-square-foot store located in the former Tower Records building on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, Calif. The shop is owned by Jackie Rose and Gerard Guez, the chairman of prominent Los Angeles–based apparel company Sunrise Brands.
On April 2, West Hollywood’s City Council is hearing a proposal for a development that would tear down the building that currently houses Live! On Sunset. It is not clear if the proposed development would have space for Live! On Sunset. “Everything is up in the air,” Rose said in an email. She stressed that the store will not close—even if it has to move.
Real estate company Centrum Properties owns the parcel where Live! On Sunset is located, and the company wants to redevelop the site. The new project would be composed of 24,738 square feet of new retail and office space, 22,810 square feet of new gym and spa space, 11,902 square feet of open space, one new billboard, and one large-screen video sign as well as a subterranean parking lot with 286 spaces.
Live! On Sunset opened in August 2008 with an ambitious agenda of mixing new media and bricks-and-mortar retail. From its website (www.liveonsunset.com), the boutique planned to webcast musical performances produced at the store, as well as reality TV–style programming that would include information on the clothing lines sold at Live! On Sunset.
The short-lived Web programming was shut down due to high production costs, Rose said. In May 2010, Live! On Sunset’s e-commerce business was split off into a company called Tags.com. The independent e-commerce company is based in Live! On Sunset, and it is owned by Sunrise Brands. It offers much of the same merchandise mix in Live! On Sunset.
Live! On Sunset currently carries apparel and accessories lines such as Superdry, Zimmerman, Camilla, Shakahatchi, Mara Hoffman, Bec and Bridge, Sass and Bide, Iosselliani JewelryJC Rags, Abbot and Main, Velvetmen, VPN, Mason, Scotch and Soda, Surface to Air and Dilascias.
On March 22, Live! On Sunset was the site of a fashion show and party for lines carried in the store, including Superdry and Abbot and Main.—Andrew Asch
