Vuori is opening at the Irvine Spectrum Center
Several industry brands are opening new stores in the Orange County, Calif. area and beyond.
Companies opening stores is nothing new, of course. Vans and Boardriders operate hundreds of stores, and Volcom also has a sizeable retail footprint.
But for the following brands, retail is a newer venture for them.
Vuori, which has plans to open approximately 100 stores in the next several years, is opening soon at the Irvine Spectrum Center right across from Lululemon. It will be the Vuori’s second store in Orange County – it also has a store at Fashion Island in Newport Beach. Overall, Vuori currently has 18 stores open, including new locations in Santa Barbara, Austin and Boston. In our interview with CEO Joe Kudla in April, he discussed store opening plans, the international push, and the expansion into women’s swim.
On a visit to Fashion Island in Newport Beach, we noticed that Brixton is opening a store at the high-end shopping center. Currently Brixton has stores in California in Ontario, Oceanside, Long Beach and Encinitas. In an interview in 2019, CEO Raphael Peck discussed how a new team was transforming the brand, including adding retail.
Melin Founders Brian McDonell and Corey Roth at the Laguna Beach opening – Photo courtesy of Melin
Jewelry brand Pura Vida is also opening a store at the Irvine Spectrum Center, according to parent company Vera Bradley Inc. It will be the brand’s second company store – the first opened in San Diego at the UTC shopping center and continues to outperform expectations. Pura Vida, which was founded as a DTC company and now sells in the wholesale channel as well, is opening stores to diversify its customer acquisition strategies which used to rely mainly on social media.
“Pura Vida’s e-commerce revenues continue to be significantly affected by the shift in social and digital media ineffectiveness and rising digital media costs,” Vera Bradley CEO Robert Wallstrom said on an earnings conference call last week.
Pura Vida is also opening stores in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in July and Phoenix, Arizona in September, Wallstrom said. “We look forward to even more store growth in the future,” he said on the call.
Eyewear brand Blenders, also mainly a DTC brand that is moving into wholesale and retail, just opened a new store in Encinitas. CEO and Founder Chase Fisher told SES in an interview that the brand has ambitious store opening plans. Similar to Pura Vida, company retail is becoming a more attractive option for Blenders due to the rising social media costs and decreasing effectiveness because of privacy changes.
Industry hat company Melin, which is performing well at core retail and beyond, just opened its first company store in Laguna Beach. We have an interesting interview with the brand’s founders coming soon.
