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Blowing Hot, Then Not: Weak Economy Shakes L.A.'s Melrose Avenue
LOS ANGELES
Melrose Avenue, once among the hottest retail and fashion strips, is feeling the chill of California's disastrous economy.
The challenges of the Melrose corridor along with Los Angeles districts such as West Third Street, among others are a microcosm of the plight facing smaller shopping areas here that attracted tenants when consumer spending was at its peak, but don't command significant tourist traffic and lack ubiquitous chains that are more capable of weathering economic upheaval.
Vera Wang has scrapped launching a Melrose Avenue store for her contemporary Lavender line, which is not in production. Initial plans called for Wang to open two adjacent units comprising 11,000 square feet, but company president Mario Grauso confirmed the project has been cut to 4,000 square feet for a single door. The scaled-back Vera Wang boutique is expected to open in February.
At the time we decided to go in [on Melrose Avenue], we didn't foresee the depth of the economic downturn, nobody did, Grauso said. We have to do what's best for the company.
Miss Sixty and its sibling brand, Energie, are looking to sublease their 13,000-square-foot, $50,000-a-month shared space on the corner of Crescent Heights Boulevard; Original Penguin has listed its 4,500-square-foot store for rent, and Susan Dell's Phi, slated to make its West Coast debut on a corner near Orlando Avenue, withdrew from the deal in September, according to people involved in the transactions.
Nanette Lepore shut her second Los Angeles boutique on Melrose less than a year after it opened; Max Azria's BCBG outlet formerly a BCBG store wants to sublease its space. Company founder Max...