Inventory overhang, out of control discounting, retail theft, layoffs and a consumer spending contraction. 2023 has more than worn out its welcome.
This past year saw plenty of losses on both the P&L and Southern California’s fashion and retail landscape. As anyone in the industry knows margins can be your best friend or your worst enemy. This year (and maybe most years) the latter rang particularly true.
As the industry prepares to turn the page on the year, here’s a look back at the local players that closed their doors for good in 2023, leaving big holes to fill in the local independent fashion landscape.
L.A. Loses Ron Herman
This closure was a head-scratcher.
Iconic Los Angeles boutique retailer Ron Herman – the launchpad for a number of up-and-coming labels – quietly sells the business to Japanese distributor and retailer Sazaby League Ltd. in 2019. Not much happens under the new ownership save for a Honolulu store it opens in the spring followed by the quiet shuttering of the boutique retailer’s Malibu and Brentwood stores in the fall. That was capped off with the closure this month of Ron Herman’s longstanding Melrose location.
A press person for Sazaby earlier this year declined to comment on the closures to Vernon Proper, but would later tell WWD they are part of a “strategic decision to reshape its U.S. operations.”
“The company has decided to scale back its current retail footprint by closing its Los Angeles stores with sights set on renewing its dynamic digital and physical presence in California and abroad,” the company said in a statement to WWD.
It’s unclear what a California renewal of Ron Herman’s “physical presence” would entail given the retailer’s Melrose location was intertwined with not only the Ron Herman brand itself but L.A. retail history. That, paired with a deep discount – 40 percent off storewide – currently running through Jan. 7 at the Waikiki Beach location leaves some serious questions of what’s to come for the Ron Herman business in 2024 and beyond.
The Odells Say Good-Bye to Silver Lake
The Odells occupied the Silver Lake retail landscape with a carefully curated point of view that made the store and its namesake apparel label a definition of contemporary California style.
That the husband-and-wife duo decided to close their doors after almost a decade in business was a blow to the industry ecosystem.
Bucks & Does, which the couple opened in 2013, was the predecessor to The Odells in Silver Lake’s Sunset Junction. They rebranded it in 2017 as The Odells Shop, which included an assortment of their namesake label – offering updated twists on classics – mixed with vintage Levi’s and local brands such as Mother.
“After nearly 10 years of designing and producing our label, The Odells, we have made the decision to sunset the brand,” the two announced to their Instagram followers in April. “We truly have loved and appreciated your loyal support along the way. While goodbyes are sometimes sad, we really do look at the next chapter of our company with excitement, optimism and ambition.”
The upbeat note on which The Odells ended has many looking forward to what the couple has in store next. Meanwhile, their original label, Porridge, continues to be sold at Anthropologie.
Banks Journal’s Bankruptcy
The story of Banks Journal may serve as a cautionary tale underscoring the importance of profitability.
The coastal-inspired men’s and women’s brand fell just short of a profit each of the 10 years it was in business. Pair that with the challenges that befell many brands post-pandemic – elevated inventory levels and contracting consumer spending on goods – and it became too difficult for the label to keep its head above water or even reorganize under Chapter 11.
The company abruptly closed its U.S. operations in mid-October, announcing the news of the brand and store closures on social media. A Chapter 7 liquidation filing followed later that month in U.S. bankruptcy court.
Banks Journal, which was a men’s brand up until the launch of women’s this year, offered a blend of influences from Australia, Newport Beach and Japan where its four founders were based. The mix led to a unique point of view, particularly given Banks Journal’s roots within the surf industry and offered the label promise well beyond its heritage.
The brand continues to be sold overseas by its European and Japanese distributors.
Big Player Busts
It wasn’t just independent businesses that shut down in 2023.
Amazon’s much talked about Amazon Style stores at Americana at Brand in Glendale and another location in Columbus, Ohio closed in November as the e-commerce company’s experiment in fashion brick-and-mortar drew to a close – at least for now.
Elsewhere, within the West Coast, Seattle-based e-commerce company Zulily began a wind down of its business Dec. 22 amid growing employee chatter online about layoffs and a closure.
Zulily entered into an assignment for the benefit of creditors, or ABC, in which an assignee will now liquidate the business. In this case, a subsidiary of Douglas Wilson Companies will help close out Zulily and attempt to recover any funds owed to creditors.
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