California Apparel News

Kitson, the trendy Los Angeles boutique that started on Robertson Boulevard in 2000, is gambling that Las Vegas will be a big winner for the retail chain.

Kitson announced it will be opening a mammoth 12,000-square-foot emporium in May inside The Linq, a new shopping center that opened last month across the way from Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip.

The store will be employing 100 associates to staff the outpost, which is expected to keep casino hours, meaning it will most likely remain open until 2 a.m., said Courtney Saavedra, Kitson’s director of marketing and public relations.

“We’re ready to partner with our vendors to give our customers something spectacular there,” she said.

While many of Kitson’s 18 California locations range from 5,000 square feet to 8,000 square feet, the retailer’s Las Vegas location is being amped up to accommodate the more than 23 million tourists who wander up and down the Las Vegas Strip every year.

Fraser Ross, the founder of Kitson, said that the emporium’s gamble will justify its size. “Vegas is all about bigger and better,” Ross said. Much of the store’s space will be set aside for 400-square-foot shops-in-shop. Most of their leases will expire in three to six months.

The big space is warranted because the Las Vegas Kitson will serve people on vacation. “Locals buy online when they shop at home. Travelers’ mindsets are different. They shop when they are traveling,” Ross said.

He also forecast that the Las Vegas Kitson will be part of a new attraction for the city.

The Linq is a huge project whose landmark is the world’s tallest observation Ferris wheel, called “The High Roller.” Topping out at 550 feet, the wheel’s 28 glass-enclosed cabins will have music and video that fade away to reveal a bird’s-eye view of the city during the 30 minutes it takes the wheel to go around. “You can see the Kitson name from the strip in a flashing sign,” Ross said. “You can’t get a better advertisement than that.”

Caesars Entertainment, the developer of the open-air shopping and entertainment center, is spending $550 million on the project, which will be managed by Los Angeles–based retail developer Caruso Affiliated. “Caruso will be providing an outdoor-lifestyle setting that will be very different for Las Vegas,” Saavedra said. Caruso owns and operates The Grove shopping center in Los Angeles and The Americana at Brand shopping center in Glendale, Calif.

Kitson’s Las Vegas location will offer popular brands such as Homies, Boy London, Sol Angeles, Yosi Samra and Lauren Moshi, as well as Herschel Supply Co., God Save LA, Aviator Nation, Havaianas, Ray Bans and Billionaire Boys Club.

While it will keep its identity as a retailer with Los Angeles roots, the store will strive to accommodate the Las Vegas lifestyle, which means offering products that take you all the way from the swimming pool in the morning to the nightclub in the evening.

The store will have apparel for men, women and children, as well as books, gifts, apothecary and accessories.

The Linq will be home to other retailers, including Goorin Bros., Chilli Beans and 12AM:Run.

The project also will feature entertainment and dining venues such as Chayo Mexican Kitchen + Tequila Bar, Sprinkles Cupcakes and Brooklyn Bowl.