| NEWS 05.21.09 8:00 AM |
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Events and Pop-Ups Are a Boon to Troubled Retail Real Estate—and Vice Versa
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 | Reebok's La Brea pop-up
Photo: Vero Image |
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The recession has brought a flurry of “For Lease” signs to the windows of Los Angeles retail spaces, which have been vacated with particular urgency in high-rent districts like Melrose Place, Robertson Boulevard, and Sunset Boulevard. But the bad news for real estate could be buoyed by corporate event and pop-up hosts using those same spaces—and likewise some hosts are finding that a vacant retail space can be an efficient and attractive venue choice.
“[The high retail vacancy is] definitely encouraging me, with any event, to walk around an area I like and look at all the retail spaces as a first protocol,” said Harrison & Shriftman national creative director Ryan Jordan, who recently chose vacant retail and parking structures for the likes of Allergan’s Latisse launch, and a launch for Russian designer Kira Plastinina (whose line filed for bankruptcy just months after its U.S. debut). “They’re a lot more cost effective, and it definitely increases your bargaining power, since they're already vacant—in New York, Miami, L.A.—everywhere.”
The Beverly Center, which occasionally hosts its own promotional events, is actively shopping for corporate event and pop-up hosts. “I've been talking to New Beauty magazine about doing a pop-up store [out of which the magazine would offer relevant] seminars, maybe for a month or a couple of months. We've been talking to Los Angeles magazine about doing the same thing for the tastemakers issue. Also we’ve been working with [an animal rescue] organization to do animal adoptions [out of the space formerly occupied by a] pet store, since their lease expired, which would allow us to lease the space later,” said Steve Valentine, a publicist for the mall (which may be facing a significant new PR problem after the murder of a young rapper in daylight there on Monday).
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RELATED TOPICS
Pop-Ups, Y-3, Reebok, Kira Plastinina, Allergan, Latisse, New Beauty Magazine, Los Angeles Magazine, M.A.C. Cosmetics, Paper Magazine, Campari, Kitson, Johnnie Walker |
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| EVENT REPORT 03.30.09 4:48 PM |
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Allergan Launches Eyelash Enhancer Amid Brow Pluckers, On-Site Docs, and a Museum-Style Exhibit
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 | The look at the Latisse launch
Photo: Claire Barrett |
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Here's something that might fit squarely in the only-in-Los Angeles file. Allergan—the maker of Botox—has launched a product called Latisse, an FDA-approved, prescription-only tonic designed to grow longer, fuller eyelashes. Allergan's senior manager of corporate communications, Heather Katt, worked with the Chandler Chicco Agency and Harrison & Shriftman on a launch party that looked sleek while playing up multiple L.A. stereotypes at once.
The party space—an old retail unit at 800 North La Cienega—got a stylized design, with mostly white decor and carpet, and lighting that bathed the rooms in candy hues. Cala lily centerpieces sat in long troughs decorated with a black graphic print, and LED tubes hung from the ceiling for a slightly futuristic look. Drawing inspiration from Philippe Starck, Marcel Wanders (designer of Miami's Mondrian hotel), and an all-white minimalist beauty pop-up store he once saw in Japan, Harrison & Shriftman's Ryan Jordan created a look he described as "a futuristic vibe for a revolutionary product, an environment that's very chic and sophisticated, not too clinical or pharmaceutical."
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RELATED TOPICS
Latisse, Allergan, Make-A-Wish Foundation |
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