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- Major retailers like Macy’s, Vans and Acne Studios have shuttered their DTLA stores, highlighting the area’s struggle to recover post-pandemic.
- Downtown L.A.’s retail vacancy rose to 9.5 percent in Q1 2025, as rent prices held steady.
- Experts are split: Is DTLA’s retail turnover a sign of long-term decline, or the start of a fresh retail cycle led by new, resilient brands?
Fashion and retail’s interest in downtown Los Angeles comes in waves. It’s currently registering as a ripple.
Downtown has been slow to bounce back from the pandemic, relative to other submarkets in the Los Angeles area. How one looks at the retail real estate landscape depends. Some may view the more recent store closures as downtown continuing to stumble. Others see the changing storefronts as proof that perhaps the market’s next cycle may be ramping as it cleanses itself of struggling brands.
However one views the revolving doors, the numbers don’t lie.
Downtown retail’s vacancy rate in the first quarter was 9.5 percent, which was up from 7 percent in the year-ago period, according to the DTLA Alliance. Rents have remained steady at $3.22 per square foot.
Some say proposed projects could be part of the next wave of buzzy retail and restaurant openings that also woo enough residents to support such businesses. This includes mixed-use proposals for the Southern California Flower Market in the Flower District, along with Fourth & Central and 6th and Alameda Studios in the Arts District.
What follows is a running list of recent retail store closures in downtown.
Macy’s
The indoor mall once known as Macy’s Plaza, due to its department store anchor, saw a $250 million redevelopment in 2015 to become the Bloc DTLA.
Developer Ratkovich Co. remade the 7th Street shopping center by turning it into an open-air property. Leasing was slow out of the gate, but the center’s tenant roster now includes restaurant Joey DTLA, Uniqlo, Drybar and Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.
Macy’s closure this year was the end of a retail remnant from downtown’s past.
It also spoke to the department store segment’s troubles, with Macy’s telling investors in January it would close around 150 underperforming locations over the next three years. Once the closures are completed, Macy’s will be left with a fleet of 350 stores it plans to invest in under its “Bold New Chapter” turnaround.
Vans
Vans made waves in 2020 when it said it was opening its first “community-driven” store on Broadway in downtown.
The footprint was massive at 11,500 square feet across two levels. The upper floor included all skate merchandise in a bid to appeal to core skaters with decks, books and key collaborations for the customer base.
Another area of the store was called Studio808, which served as a lounge and workshop space.
Early this year, the doors were quietly closed as part of a larger focus on turning around the Vans business. The shoe company’s revival has been slow to come by, with VF Corp. CEO Bracken Darrell telling analysts last week that “turnarounds are often non-linear.”
Closing some of its stores has been one focus to improve the business, in addition to tamping down on promotions, closing some retail accounts and restricting distribution in the off-price channel.
Paul Smith
British designer Paul Smith was part of a wave of boutiques that opened on Broadway and, like many retailers, temporarily closed due to the pandemic.
Even still, the brand reopened its doors in 2021 hoping to make another go in what many hoped would be a pick-up in activity post-Covid. However, it was unable to push through downtown’s challenges coming out of the pandemic and closed its doors for good in 2024.
A.P.C.
A.P.C. was seen as a major get for downtown when the contemporary French brand opened its doors on 9th Street in 2015.
It brought its raw denim and classic designs to the neighborhood and later followed that up with a Silver Lake store the same year.
It revamped its downtown strategy in 2023, shifting to its A.P.C. Surplus concept store, with past season items offered on markdown.
“Countering the hectic pace of fashion, the Surplus concept aligns with our commitment to creating durable collections that stand the test of time,” the brand said at the time of the re-worked store.
Acne
Swedish brand Acne took up residence on the ground floor of the iconic Eastern Columbia Building in 2013 as one of the OGs of the fashion resurgence for the neighborhood.
Its 5,000-square-foot presence, at the time, was Acne’s largest store and was located at the corner of 9th Street and Broadway.
The door hung on for a good amount of time, but ultimately closed up shop this year.
A store on Melrose Avenue, South Coast Plaza, Geary Street in San Francisco and the Crystals shopping center in Las Vegas remain the brand’s locations in the West.
Theory
Theory opened its first store in downtown and fourth Los Angeles location six years ago. However, like many it suffered during the height of the pandemic and closed in 2021.
It was a sizable footprint at 1,600 square feet and, like many downtown stores, was designed with a showroom concept in mind. The contemporary brand also used the space to host events and as a product launchpad.
“The store represents a new brand initiative featuring unique design considerations and activities that respond to local context and historical conditions,” the brand said at the time of the door’s opening.
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