RETAIL REAL ESTATE
French Contemporary Brand Iro to Open on Beverly Drive
Paris-headquartered contemporary collection Iro will open its second American store in Beverly Hills in February 2014, according to Rahav Zuta, Iro’s U.S. brand manager.
Iro signed a 10-year lease in the first week of June for a space on the 300 block of North Beverly Drive, but Zuta did not confirm which space the Iro boutique will move into. For the past year, retailers such as Scoop, Intermix, Alice & Olivia and All Saints Spitalfields have moved onto the 200 and 300 blocks of North Beverly Drive.
“Beverly Drive is getting lots of attention,” Zuta said. "It’s next to Rodeo Drive, and Beverly gets foot traffic from locals and tourists. It is the place to go.”
Iro was founded in 2005 by designers Laurent and Arik Bitton, and the company is in the midst of global expansion, Zuta said. Iro runs five branded shops in Paris. It also runs boutiques in the European cities Zurich, Madrid and Marseilles. In July, it is scheduled to open a boutique in Beirut, Lebanon’s capital.
In April, Iro opened a boutique in New York’s SoHo District. Zuta forecast that the label will open more boutiques in the next few years but declined to state how many stores the company plans to open.
The Beverly Drive store will look similar to Iro’s SoHo store. It will feature polished, concrete floors, and some of the interiors will be covered with a matte black paint.
The store will offer Iro’s collections for women and men, as well as its full denim line. Retail price points range from $120 for a T-shirt to $500 for some dresses, with leather jackets ranging from $1,200 to $1,500 and outerwear ranging from $550 to $1,000.
“The collection is easygoing, easy-to-wear; it is not too complicated. It has that cool, effortless chic to it,” Zuta said.
Jay Luchs, executive vice president for real estate brokerage Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, worked on the Iro deal and is currently serving as the national agent for Iro’s real estate. He also worked on a deal that will bring Sandro, another French fashion label, to North Beverly Drive. The Paris-headquartered line runs a fleet of 202 stores around the world and signed a lease for a Beverly Hills space in May. Sandro will move into 310 N. Beverly Drive, which formerly housed men’s suiting shop The Streets of Beverly Hills. Sandro is scheduled to open by the end of 2013, Luchs said.
