Saks/–18.5inches/1stdp/mark2nd
By NOLA L. SARKISIAN
Staff Reporter
Saks Fifth Avenue is trying something new in Old Pasadena.
Last month, the venerable department store chain opened its latest “Main Street” concept store as a way to compete with more intimate boutiques and galleries in the thriving shopping and entertainment district.
The scaled-down version of a traditional Saks features women’s clothing and a home gift gallery. Analysts call it the latest example of concept retailing.
“You can get a new consumer when you open in a non-traditional area,” said Chip Lightfoot, a retail analyst at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in Los Angeles. “The location will encourage people to come who normally wouldn’t go to a Saks Fifth Avenue.”
One thing hasn’t changed Saks’ prices. But that didn’t bother shopper Judy Jones, even though she was scouting for bargains.
“The community needed this, this level, this quality. Old Pasadena shops tend to be trendy and I prefer the classics,” said Jones, a project manager for Kaiser Permanente. “The store seems to have everything that I would need, yet it’s small enough to get around comfortably.”
Manager Stephanie Gale said the store is off to a good start, but she declined to provide sales figures. However, Marsha Rood, city of Pasadena development administrator, said the store projects $14 million in sales for the coming year.
The Birmingham-based parent of Saks, now called Saks Inc. following the $2.1 billion merger last September of Saks Holdings Inc. and Proffitt’s Inc., began opening the Main Street stores in 1996 with a Greenwich, Conn., location, followed with stores in Tulsa, Okla., Charleston, S.C., and Austin, Texas.
In California, stores in La Jolla, Santa Barbara and Blackhawk have opened in the past 13 months. The 38,400-square-foot Pasadena location marks the eighth Main Street outlet. The stores range from 30,000 to 62,000 square feet, compared with their traditional mall counterparts, which average 100,000 to 200,000 square feet.
In Pasadena, the exodus or demise of such high-end retailers as I. Magnin and Bullock’s in the early ’90s left the city with few fashion choices. Shoppers mostly relied on Macy’s on South Lake Avenue.
To fill that void, city officials, with the help of Redondo Beach-based Economic Development Systems, a retail recruiting firm, lured Saks to the site at Union Street and De Lacey Avenue just a block north of busy Colorado Boulevard.
The Pasadena store opened in a 1931 art deco building that had been vacant for 30 years. The former site of Penn Oil & Supply Co. and what was once the largest Firestone tire dealership on the West Coast underwent major renovations to accommodate the new store.
Marble floors, fluted columns and a grand staircase give the site a modern feel. Where gas tanks once stood, zebra-wood cases trimmed in silver-leaf now display cosmetics and perfume.
“Our customer tends to be fashion-forward. The feel is much more contemporary and fun,” Gale said. “Our shopper may not be young, but she thinks young.”
Gale said some examples of buying trends during the holiday season included La Perla red, handmade lace bras for $205 and matching bikini lace panties for $112. Bright blue-and-purple gemstone earring sets by Pasquali Bruni also were popular. Home gallery favorites included orange and red hand-blown Murano glass tumblers for $38.
Along with high-end design wear, the store carries affordable knits and casual sportswear by Donna Karan and other designers.
Nearby retailers hope their new neighbor will boost area foot traffic, which already averages 30,000 pedestrians a week. “It will definitely bring clientele to the area who normally wouldn’t come here,” said Gisela Calzadillas, store manager at ABS, a women’s clothing store on Colorado.
Rood said the Old Pasadena area finished 1998 with roughly $170 million in sales, a giant leap from the $10 million generated in 1983 before major revitalization began.
So what’s the next addition? “There’s a major retailer looking to build a men’s store downtown, but we are still in the planning stages,” Rood said.
