Retail Newness: Skims to Open South Coast Plaza Store

Plus, Alo Yoga at South Coast, Mango to Fig at 7th, Amiri joins the Beverly Center and more retail news.
Skims is set to open its third Orange County store at South Coast Plaza
The Skims West Hollywood flagship. PHOTO COURTESY OF SKIMS/INSTAGRAM.

Southern California’s latest retail openings are a show of force among those companies with the capital to scale. 

While some contract, others are making moves to take advantage of planting flags in new markets. 

Here’s the latest on who’s getting ready to throw open their store’s doors and who is already up and running. 

South Coast Plaza Nabs Skims

Orange County’s largest shopping center will see Kim Kardashian’s Skims open a boutique in the Fall. The door will be the brand’s first in Orange County and third in California after the company’s West Hollywood flagship on Sunset Boulevard and in Cabazon at the Desert Hills Outlet. 

Skims will take the space previously occupied by Club Monaco on the first floor of the Bloomingdale’s side of the Costa Mesa mall. 

Other additions on the main side of the center include Guerlain this summer and Manolo Blahnik in the Fall. 

On the Bear Street side of the mall, Alo Yoga will open in the winter on the lower level of the building. This would be the upscale activewear brand’s third Orange County store after Fashion Island in Newport Beach and the Brea Mall. 

Mango will open a store at Fig at 7th in Downtown Los Angeles, joining H&M, Zara and Nordstrom Rack in what's quickly becoming a fast-fashion and off-price shopping center.
A look at the future store of Mango at Fig at 7th in Downtown Los Angeles. PHOTO BY VERNON PROPER.

Mango Bolsters Fig at 7th Fast-Fashion Mix

Spanish fast-fashion retailer Mango is set to open a store at the Fig at 7th retail center in downtown Los Angeles.

The new store will take space previously occupied by M.A.C. Cosmetics and sits next to Sunglass Hut and Target. 

That’s a big get for Fig at 7th as it fills out its more affordable fashion mix, with Zara, H&M and Nordstrom Rack among the existing anchors at the open-air lifestyle center. Mango might just serve as the missing link at a mall that’s long lacked a strong tenant merchandising perspective. 

Amiri to Beverly Center

Amiri has opened a boutique at the Beverly Center, located on the seventh level of the center’s Macy’s wing. 

The Los Angeles luxury label sits between Roberto Cavalli and Saint Laurent. 

This is the third California store for Amiri, which has doors on Rodeo Drive and South Coast Plaza. Overall, the brand founded by Mike Amiri counts 28 stores in its fleet as its rapid brick-and-mortar expansion continues following an undisclosed capital infusion from OTB Group in 2019. 

Maeve is launching as a standalone brand after years of serving as a top-producing brand for Anthropologie
PHOTO COURTESY OF MAEVE.

Anthropologie’s Maeve to Chart Own Course

While not a West Coast-based business, Urban Outfitters Group Inc.’s Anthropologie division is set to spin off its top-producing Maeve label into a standalone business.

The brand sits at the top of searches on Anthropologie’s website  and is what Anthropologie Group President of Women’s and Home Anu Narayanan called “a true driver of growth.” 

It marks a major move that will no doubt hold implications for West Coast shopping centers where Urban already has a presence with Maeve’s sister retailers in Urban Outfitters, Free People, Free People Movement and Anthropologie. The company didn’t specify where future stores would be located or just how sizable the store fleet could grow.

In the near term, consumers will see the brand launch its own social media channels, Substack newsletter called & one more thing, influencer marketing campaigns and a print catalogue. 

Vernon Proper: fashion without the fluff. Business news and analysis.

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