Retail Happenings: Rachel Comey comes to Melrose Place; General Pants Co. hits La Brea Avenue

Rachel Comey comes to Melrose Place

The indie/arts-and-crafts-flavored New York City-based Rachel Comey label has picked Melrose Place as the location of its first standalone store on the West Coast, which opened June 1.

The 2,600-square-foot space reflects the vibe of Comey’s clothes thanks to terra cotta-colored floors, poured concrete walls, wraparound wicker benches and exposed-wood ceiling beams. (Comey and her partner, Sean Carmody, worked with Los Angeles-based architect Linda Taalman, Brooklyn-based architect Elizabeth Roberts and San Francisco-based interior designer Charles de Lisle on the project.)

While local stockists such as Tenoversix, Opening Ceremony and Mohawk General Store have long carried a selection of Comey’s wares, the new space showcases the full range including ready-to-wear, denim, accessories and footwear, including some fabrications and colorways that can be found only here and at Comey’s other standalone store, which opened in New York in 2014.

Rachel Comey Los Angeles, 8432 Melrose Place, www.rachelcomey.com.

General Pants Co. opens first U.S. store on La Brea Avenue

Australia-based multi-brand retailer General Pants Co., which has 53 boutiques in its home country, opened its first U.S. store this month on a fashion-heavy stretch of La Brea Avenue.

The 4,009-square-foot space, which officially opened June 2, has a spare industrial vibe thanks to concrete floors, exposed brick walls and metal girders, a swirling wall of graffiti, and surf films projected continuously against white curtains hanging toward the back of the room. The shelves and racks are stocked with men’s and women’s offerings from a handful of younger-skewing Aussie brands that are either new to the L.A. market or haven’t previously been widely available in brick-and-mortar stores here. These include denim brands Ksubi and Neuw, surf/skate brands Insight and Arvust, streetwear labels Zanerobe and Spencer Project and women’s label Alice in the Eve, which is available exclusively through the boutique.

The store, dubbed the Local 132 by General Pants Co., will function as more than a straight-up retail space, according to design director Pip Edwards. “We’re calling it the Local because that’s how we Australians refer to our local pub – the neighborhood place you go to hang out.” Edwards added that the space would also serve as a wholesale showroom and VIP services office for many of the brands on the shelves and host occasional music- and art-focused events and parties. It will also serve as a beachhead of sorts for further U.S. expansion because General Pants Co. already has plans in the works to open its second U.S. store – in New York City – in September.

The Local 132 by General Pants Co., 132 S. La Brea Ave., www.localgpc.com.

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