This is significant. Women’s and men’s boutique Scout at 7920 West 3rd Street is closing its doors at month’s end and relocating to 1646 Cherokee Street in Hollywood come March. Whether you were a frequent shopper or even if Scout’s fashion-forward merch wasn’t your thing, this is a loss of a notable boutique in the neighborhood.
The upside is there will be a massive sale Friday, January 23 through Sunday, January 25 from 11am-7pm. Per the press release, “All sale items will be under $100.00 with a savings of 50 – 90% off all brands. All vintage items will be sold at $25.00.” Labels on major discount include “accessories by Mended Veil and Onward Through the Fog; menswear by Henrik Vibskov, Vroom, Endovanera, Wayne Hadly and Lova and womenswear by Swash, Henrik Vibskov, C. Neeon, Voeu, Cameo, Rita Flora, Rhys Dwfen and the Scout Label.”
This stretch of West 3rd Street east of Crescent Heights is getting more and more barren. Let’s count last year’s closures—Known LA, Danmark, Magenta, Threads, Built by Wendy. What’s left? Pixie Market, EM & Co, and new-ish Pinkyotto.
16 responses so far ↓
1 TheRiverSeaLion // Jan 14, 2009 at 2:04 pm
1) Parking, parking, parking
2) They need an anchor tenant, like Joan’s or Toast, that will make that strip a destination. Right now it’s just a thoroughfare.
2 alex the sea turtle // Jan 14, 2009 at 3:13 pm
How about a nice neighborhood yoga studio? Swerve doesn’t work for me and I am not a fan of the Iynegar.
3 TheLakeTortoise // Jan 14, 2009 at 5:26 pm
A yoga studio would just take up lots of street parking spaces, probably for up to 2 hrs per car, and its customers will be too busy/sweaty afterward to shop retail. What’s needed are cafes, coffee shops, dessert places, and a really popular store (like a Kitson) that will draw people to that strip and keep them there for a while and make them want to browse a bit. Yoga, nails, hair, chiropractors, etc. just get their customers and then they instantly split.
4 alex the sea turtle // Jan 15, 2009 at 9:52 am
I personally would be walking and would expect with all the apartments and other young people that there would be a large number of others who might walk.
One more yoga studio would be hard pressed to hurt the area.
5 Miss Teresa // Jan 15, 2009 at 10:43 am
I love B&S’s breakdown of available shops on Third. Why does it seem Brad Conroy’s properties are fated to lose tenants? Aside from the economic downturn, did these businesses see rent increases over the last couple of years that caused them to move out?
I am on a committee that is working on the Third Street issues. I mentioned the Eastern end of Third Street as needing some TLC, possibly by putting a valet stand at that end, as well as some trees and street furniture. And wouldn’t it be great if people at the Car Wash could stroll along Third and grab a quick bite at a small deli/shop, or sit on a park bench along the sidewalk?
6 Miss Teresa // Jan 15, 2009 at 11:07 am
Can someone come up with a sea creature name for me too?
7 TeresaThePterodactyl // Jan 15, 2009 at 11:42 am
It seems to have been proven, considering the few successes around town like Larchmont Blvd or Abbott Kinney, that to make a street work takes a combination of outdoor cafes, ample parking, and uniqueness (ie not a hodgepodge of ubiquitous chain stores). The strip east of Crescent Heights is too wide, too pedestrian unfriendly, and is a thoroughfare to the Grove. It would take massive coordinated changes to make it work, involving both the city (ie parking garage, trees) and, unfortunately, greedy landlords working together to make it a consistent street. The old, apathetic, greedy, tasteless, bastards that own most of the storefronts in this area make this theory almost a complete impossibility.
8 Miss Teresa // Jan 15, 2009 at 5:33 pm
There is hope -
First, you put in the universal valet to ease some of the problems with the restaurants using up all of the street parking, pledging to have one valet stand at the east end of the strip.
Then, you work on grants and city resources (Tree People, etc.) to liven up the curbsides.
Then, you get someone like Rick Caruso, who owns the Grove and plans to build a mixed use project just south of Loehmans, to help with street furniture. Or Brad Conroy, who seems to have purchased every other building on the street.
Then, you contact any property owners who have torn down their buildings or plan to tear down their buildings, and ask them if they would be willing to do a public-private partnership and over park whatever projects they plan to put in.
Then, add fees to any conditional use permits or discretionary actions to go toward land acquisition for a parking structure.
Then, replace the Third Street parking meters with a parking station; charge for street parking until 10:00 p.m., and have that revenue go toward land acquisition for a parking structure.
Then, run a trolley from LACMA to Third and Fairfax, and run a trolley from Park La Brea/Palazzos to the Beverly Center. That way, we and our neighbors can do all of our errands by foot, and then hop on a trolley when our bags get too heavy, and our feet get too tired.
Let’s get started!
9 Sweat—Yoga (and More) to the Beverly Connection? // Jan 16, 2009 at 12:13 pm
[...] that West 3rd Street will be losing another boutique with the relocation of Scout to Hollywood sparked discussion about what should happen to the [...]
10 TheStreamEel // Jan 16, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Those are all good ideas, Ms. T. Not possible in our lifetime, but great ideas. The biggest problem – of many – right now with the area of 3rd Street in question is the prevalence of spaces/structures that ruin the block for retail – specifically the empty Xmas Tree/Pumpkin Patch corner lot, the Mordigan Nursery, the auto body shop on 3rd & Edinburgh, and, of course, the car wash. These commercial establishments completely dominate those few blocks are are also completely inconsistent in that they don’t promote retail shops. And then there’s that big 2-story place on the other side that seems to have one shabby chic couch place after another in failed succession…that should be an indoor/outdoor cafe.
11 B+S Weekly Round-Up—January 12-16, 2009 // Jan 17, 2009 at 10:25 am
[...] Shops—Big News, Scout Leaving West 3rd Street, Relocating to Hollywood — City—LA City Council District 5 Candidate Forum this Sunday! — Sweat—Yoga (and More) to [...]
12 Shuttering Shop News—Zipper Leaving West 3rd, Consolidating to Sonoma Store // Jan 19, 2009 at 12:15 pm
[...] so I had just finished reeling from news that Scout was leaving West 3rd Street, only to find out even bigger news that lifestyle/decor/gifts shop Zipper is [...]
13 Shuttering Shop News—Pinkyotto Closing, Moving Merch to Nearly-Opened Boston Boutique // Jan 20, 2009 at 12:53 pm
[...] in NYC, will consolidate everything from the LA boutique to its to-be-opened shop in Boston. With Scout leaving at the end of the month, remaining shops on 3rd between Edinburgh and Fairfax is becoming a shorter [...]
14 Sales—Milkmade Select Shop, Kiki de Montparnasse, Scout, Taschen // Jan 21, 2009 at 12:39 pm
[...] JANUARY 23-25 WHO: Scout WHAT: Massive moving sale, featuring up to 90% off for men and women, vintage for $25, and accessories priced at $100 or less [...]
15 Shops—Big News, Douglas Fir Opening Third West 3rd Street Boutique! // Jan 26, 2009 at 12:13 pm
[...] recent news of Zipper, Scout and Pinkyotto moving off West 3rd, there is still growth on our economy-weakened street. I noticed [...]
16 Shops—Scout Now Open in Hollywood // Apr 6, 2009 at 10:56 am
[...] may have left our neck of the woods, but the fash-forward men’s and women’s boutique has reopened at [...]
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