From Garlic Bread to Beverly Hills

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Frozen food helped build Beverly Hill’s newest luxury retail store.

Scott Devon, whose father founded Grand Rapids, Mich.-based frozen garlic bread company Cole’s Quality Foods, opened Devon Works on Wilshire Boulevard last month.

The 10,000-square-foot space doesn’t sell garlic bread, though. It offers Devon’s new line of high-end apparel and watches, including premium denim priced between $200 and $320 and trendy ready-to-wear pieces with prices comparable with Chanel’s and Gucci’s.

Devon, who splits his time between Los Angeles, New York and Michigan, plans to grow Devon Works into a lifestyle brand with jewelry, home décor and even a bridal collection. He said the Beverly Hills store will serve as a launching pad.

“Beverly Hills is an influential area,” Devon said. “With the media and celebrity and everything that happens in Los Angeles, it really influences the rest of the world so we thought it was important to be there.”

Devon took over Cole’s from his dad in 1990 and grew the company from $22 million in annual sales to nearly $100 million. Meanwhile, Devon got into real estate, restaurants, polo and cars.

Devon started Devon Motorworks several yeas ago, designing a futuristic sports car called the Devon GTX. He then jumped into the accessories business by designing a $15,000 watch, the Tread 1, last year.

The watch was a hit, so Devon started to think about designing clothes. He put together a team of apparel veterans to help him launch the venture including former Ralph Lauren designer Keith Lissner; well-known leather designer Agatha Blois; and Meadow Hochfelder, who has worked at Donna Karan and Rachel Roy.

Devon is also involved in designing the apparel and other goods, although he hadn’t planned on a career in fashion design.

“I consider myself a self-taught artist; I sketch and paint,” he said. “In the back of my mind I loved architecture and design and art, so it just kind of came in handy that I had a love of that.”

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