Steve & Barry’s: What Went Wrong

I’ve been fascinated by the rapid rise and even faster decline of Steve & Barry’s, the discount clothing chain that recently declared bankruptcy for the second time in three months — and is now shutting down for good.

The chain is liquidating its merchandise, although I didn’t find any real bargains during a recent trip to the Burbank location. That’s because the liquidators — sneaky as they are — have decided to knock 30% off a higher price point than the $8.98 that all Steve & Barry’s merchandise had been selling for.

Yep — $8.98. That may explain why Steve & Barry’s collapsed so quickly. The profit margins are either razor-thin, or not there at all, with those kind of prices. It’s rumored that Steve & Barry’s basically survived off of the shopping malls that provided incentives to the stores in bringing them in.

The chain also expanded too soon and too fast. We wrote about Steve & Barry’s arrival to Burbank last year.. but even then it seemed strange that the store could survive on so little.

Now here’s your answer: It couldn’t. That’s a shame — in these tough economic times, a bargain clothier like Steve & Barry’s should thrive. Instead, the store will soon cease to exist.

Here’s more from Business Week:

Yet Steve & Barry’s is a retail casualty. Design couldn’t save the day for this chain. Aggressive growth, instead, seemed to be the company’s goal—and perhaps its downfall. It’s bankrupt. While growth is what every business strives for, obviously, when is enough enough? Could Steve & Barry’s still be doing well, if it didn’t push for opening nearly 300 stores — almost ten times the number of stores it had five years ago — in such a relatively short time? If the company had focused more on design and quality at super-low prices, which seemed to be a priority, instead of the number of stores, perhaps it could have found itself in a different position today. One that would offer cash-strapped consumers fun, well-designed clothing at prices they could afford during the toughest of times, and would allow them to profit from the mass desire for cool apparel at bare-bones prices. Now those customers will be shopping at their competitors’ stores instead.

Steve & Barry’s stores were also located at the Beverly Connection and in Santa Monica, among other spots.

Colorado Wine Company’s Great Chalkboard War of 2008

The folks at Eagle Rock’s Colorado Wine Co. are still reeling from the loss of their sidewalk chalkboard sign — which helped drive traffic into the store. The sign also was a small reminder to the neighborhood that, hey, interesting, lively things are happening here.

But turns out those sidewalk signs are illegal. The city is willing to look the other way until people complain — and indeed, someone eventually did. Mr. Grumpy Pedestrian began his campaign against the sign rather passive aggressively — kicking it to one side for starters. But then things escalated:

We would keep our dinky little chalkboard sign on our half of the sidewalk which is approximately 13 feet wide. Well, what began as a surgically precise shift of our sidwalk advertising became a grumble and a swift kick which ultimately left our advertising flat on the ground or facing the store instead of the street every day. Polite confrontations posing questions like “excuse me, sir, why do you do that” and “are you angry at wine?” became pretty heated with quotes like “all you people are only in it for the money!” and “why should I have to walk on the side of the sidewalk! I want to walk down the middle and it’s a free country!” In it for the money? Clearly he’s never been in retail.

To be fair, though you see these types of signs up and down every retail corridor in our city, they are illegal. And soon enough, after a few more run-ins with our friendly neighborhood sign abuser, we received a notice from the city forcing us to remove it from the public sidewalk. And when an employee accidentally put the sign out the following week, our landlords were summoned to appear before the city downtown! Ultimately, we settled with the city over the phone and all was forgiven provided we never EVER spit in the face of justice again by putting out our little chalkboard trying to make our business a little more noticeable.

The Colorado Wine folks have dubbed the guy “Mr. Very Angry Irish Man.” MVAIM may soon find a new target of his ire: According to commenters on the Colorado Wine Co. site, the Coffee Table restaurant and bar up the street has started using a sidewalk sign as well.

This Is What The Summer Brings

YES! The Yo Gabba Gabba toys have started arriving in stores. We spotted a big selection this weekend at the Burbank Target — plush dolls of Brobee, Muno and Toodee; Plex’s car; a YGG! guitar; and, above, a Brobee microphone.

I bought the microphone. For (ahem) the Kid FKABT, of course. (Maybe we’ll share.) Nontoxic reviews has more info on the new toys here, or read about it at the official YGG! production blog.

And stay tuned… we’ll recount our super-secret visit to Gabbaland later this week! (Seriously!)

Somehow, the "$1.15 Only Store" Doesn’t Have the Same Ring

Shocking news last week from the L.A. Times, which reports that the 99 Cents Only chain is mulling a new pricing structure.

After years of promising “99 Cents Only,” the store — which has been struggling as of late — may soon become “99 Cents Frequently.” That’s more in line with the fake 99 (or “98″) cents stores that actually offer products of varying prices. And it’s a sign of these costly times:

Given the hard times many American consumers are facing, you’d think 99 Cents Only would be packing them in. The company told analysts on a conference call Thursday afternoon that although last quarter’s sales ($305 million) “grew slightly more slowly than anticipated,” same-store sales were strengthening toward the end of last quarter and “have continued strengthening” in the current quarter.

Still, one analyst on the call wanted to know whether the company would consider giving itself more pricing flexibility, presumably to improve the bottom line.

The retailer already charges less than 99 cents for some stuff. But what about charging, say, $1.09 or $1.29 for certain items? the analyst asked.

If you know the chain, you know that sounds like heresy. As its website proudly proclaims: “STILL nothing over 99 cents, ever!”

Yet CEO Eric Schiffer said the idea was “definitely on the table. That is something we’re looking at . . . in the future for us. We’re looking at doing some experiments. Obviously one way [is that] you can start selling things for $1.05, $1.09, $1.15 and other ways. You could have more of a break between your 99 cents price point and the next price point.”

That’s a risky strategy. The thrill of the 99 Cents Only store is picking up bizarre or crappy products that you normally wouldn’t buy — but are willing to give a shot for 99 cents. If they upped the quality of their fare, perhaps that would be one thing. But I’m guessing the quality wouldn’t change — just the price.

Americana at Brand: First Impressions

The Franklin Avenue 3 wasn’t originally planning on visiting the Americana at Brand this weekend; the idea of battling the traffic and crowds didn’t appeal. Yet we couldn’t resist, especially since we needed to return a few things at the Galleria.

So we parked at the Galleria — free, after all — and eventually made it across the street to the Americana. A few early thoughts… first on the plus side: I like the fact that it has more of a city vibe than the Grove; perhaps that can be chalked up to the residential spots above the retail. Perhaps it’s also because the Americana opens up to Brand, an actual honest-to-goodness street. I also like the higher ceilings in much of the retail, which also brings a nice urban feel to Glendale.

What’s more, the Americana is close enough to Franklin Avenue H.Q. that we will indeed be taking public transportation (the Glendale Beeline) there.

Now, the cons: C’mon, Rick Caruso, enough with the ego. Caruso’s name is everywhere — so much that several awnings are emblazoned with a “C” rather than an “A” (for “Americana”) or even “E” (for the Excelsior residential condos and rentals). Also, as L.A. Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne notes, a debate over what’s public space and what’s not is inevitable. Because this was sold to Glendale voters as “Glendale’s Town Center,” and Glendale’s redevelopment agency actually owns the two-acre green space at the center of the Americana, does Caruso have the right to severely restrict what is and isn’t allowed there?

Hawthorne writes:

It will be intriguing to watch how the Americana’s shared space–particularly the park–evolves and is used over time, particularly by residents of the complex. Will they treat it as their own front yard–which it basically is? What about the kids who live–and grow up–there? What if they want to ride a bicycle or skateboard there–will they be allowed to?

According to Dave Williams, Caruso’s executive vice president for archi- tecture, they will not. “The open spaces will be handled the same way they’re handled at the Grove,” he told me. “Operationally, we have a safety threshold we want to maintain.” That means no bikes and no skateboards, no dogs heavier than 25 pounds, plus a slew of other restrictions.

My guess is that those restrictions will prove to be more of an issue in Glendale than they’ve been at the Grove. It may not happen right away, especially if the first wave of residents includes more twentysomethings than families.

But as the Americana evolves, those residents may start to wonder why a public park at the foot of their apartment buildings is patrolled by Caruso’s security team (if indeed that’s what happens). If the private cops, who will be backed up by a substation staffed by Glendale police, start breaking up pickup soccer games or taking away skateboards, they may even start resenting it.

Some pics from our Saturday visit:

Check out that big camera stationed above the stoplight. Yes, You Are Being Filmed. Now go spend some money.

Cheesecake Factory? Check. Pacific Theatres? Check. Barnes & Noble? Check. Yup, it really is “The Grove East.”

Jewel City Diner. (Trivia: Unless you live in Glendale, betcha didn’t know “Jewel City” is the town’s nickname.) Too bad this isn’t a West Coast outpost of the Shake Shack — damn, I’d be there every weekend.

Americana’s don’t-confuse-it-with-an-Eiffel-Tower-replica spire.

Residential, retail and Bellagio-style fountain.

Old timey ice cream. Wait, so is the Americana supposed to invoke 1930s, uh, Americana?

Meanwhile, across the street… the Glendale Galleria has added a few banners to what had been a random entrance — but is now the gateway to the mall from the Americana. Inside, on Saturday the Galleria was jam-packed with people. Perhaps, for all of Galleria owner General Growth’s handwringing, it’s not going to hurt the mall. For starters, as the Galleria makes sure to stress, the original mall still boasts most major retailers, including Banana Republic, Gap, Apple, Target, etc.

Americana at Brand: First Impressions

The Franklin Avenue 3 wasn’t originally planning on visiting the Americana at Brand this weekend; the idea of battling the traffic and crowds didn’t appeal. Yet we couldn’t resist, especially since we needed to return a few things at the Galleria.

So we parked at the Galleria — free, after all — and eventually made it across the street to the Americana. A few early thoughts… first on the plus side: I like the fact that it has more of a city vibe than the Grove; perhaps that can be chalked up to the residential spots above the retail. Perhaps it’s also because the Americana opens up to Brand, an actual honest-to-goodness street. I also like the higher ceilings in much of the retail, which also brings a nice urban feel to Glendale.

What’s more, the Americana is close enough to Franklin Avenue H.Q. that we will indeed be taking public transportation (the Glendale Beeline) there.

Now, the cons: C’mon, Rick Caruso, enough with the ego. Caruso’s name is everywhere — so much that several awnings are emblazoned with a “C” rather than an “A” (for “Americana”) or even “E” (for the Excelsior residential condos and rentals). Also, as L.A. Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne notes, a debate over what’s public space and what’s not is inevitable. Because this was sold to Glendale voters as “Glendale’s Town Center,” and Glendale’s redevelopment agency actually owns the two-acre green space at the center of the Americana, does Caruso have the right to severely restrict what is and isn’t allowed there?

Hawthorne writes:

It will be intriguing to watch how the Americana’s shared space–particularly the park–evolves and is used over time, particularly by residents of the complex. Will they treat it as their own front yard–which it basically is? What about the kids who live–and grow up–there? What if they want to ride a bicycle or skateboard there–will they be allowed to?

According to Dave Williams, Caruso’s executive vice president for archi- tecture, they will not. “The open spaces will be handled the same way they’re handled at the Grove,” he told me. “Operationally, we have a safety threshold we want to maintain.” That means no bikes and no skateboards, no dogs heavier than 25 pounds, plus a slew of other restrictions.

My guess is that those restrictions will prove to be more of an issue in Glendale than they’ve been at the Grove. It may not happen right away, especially if the first wave of residents includes more twentysomethings than families.

But as the Americana evolves, those residents may start to wonder why a public park at the foot of their apartment buildings is patrolled by Caruso’s security team (if indeed that’s what happens). If the private cops, who will be backed up by a substation staffed by Glendale police, start breaking up pickup soccer games or taking away skateboards, they may even start resenting it.

Some pics from our Saturday visit:

Check out that big camera stationed above the stoplight. Yes, You Are Being Filmed. Now go spend some money.

Cheesecake Factory? Check. Pacific Theatres? Check. Barnes & Noble? Check. Yup, it really is “The Grove East.”

Jewel City Diner. (Trivia: Unless you live in Glendale, betcha didn’t know “Jewel City” is the town’s nickname.) Too bad this isn’t a West Coast outpost of the Shake Shack — damn, I’d be there every weekend.

Americana’s don’t-confuse-it-with-an-Eiffel-Tower-replica spire.

Residential, retail and Bellagio-style fountain.

Old timey ice cream. Wait, so is the Americana supposed to invoke 1930s, uh, Americana?

Meanwhile, across the street… the Glendale Galleria has added a few banners to what had been a random entrance — but is now the gateway to the mall from the Americana. Inside, on Saturday the Galleria was jam-packed with people. Perhaps, for all of Galleria owner General Growth’s handwringing, it’s not going to hurt the mall. For starters, as the Galleria makes sure to stress, the original mall still boasts most major retailers, including Banana Republic, Gap, Apple, Target, etc.

Remember When Gas Was Below $2? It Wasn’t That Long Ago

Yesterday <a href=”
http://laist.com/2008/04/09/gas_prices_up_a.php ” target=”_blank”>LAist reminded us that $4 gas was on the horizon, and pointed to a GasBuddy chart of prices over the last several months.

I headed over to GasBuddy myself to see the price trend… and got a little nostalgic.

Until February 2004, gas was still under $2 (except for one or two brief jumps in 2003). Then, it spiked — and we’ve never seen gas prices leading with a “$1″ (other then a brief dip during the 2004 holidays) ever since.

Now, as we wonder whether gas will ever even dip under $3, it’s interesting to think that not too long ago we were griping about $2 gas. Nice and sneaky, Big Oil!

Remember When Gas Was Below $2? It Wasn’t That Long Ago

Yesterday <a href="
http://laist.com/2008/04/09/gas_prices_up_a.php ” target=”_blank”>LAist reminded us that $4 gas was on the horizon, and pointed to a GasBuddy chart of prices over the last several months.

I headed over to GasBuddy myself to see the price trend… and got a little nostalgic.

Until February 2004, gas was still under $2 (except for one or two brief jumps in 2003). Then, it spiked — and we’ve never seen gas prices leading with a “$1″ (other then a brief dip during the 2004 holidays) ever since.

Now, as we wonder whether gas will ever even dip under $3, it’s interesting to think that not too long ago we were griping about $2 gas. Nice and sneaky, Big Oil!

Another Political Scandal? Fire Up the Silkscreener

When the Eliot Spitzer/prostitution scandal hit the headlines, I knew the folks at Los Feliz’s Y-Que boutique were probably already designing a topical t-shirt.

Ever since they hit it big with their “Free Winona” shirt, Y-Que has reliably come up with a shirt for almost every celeb and political scandal. And the Spitzer scandal was no exception, as you can see above.

Y-Que is also hoping to make a few extra bucks off the potential Microsoft/Yahoo merger, as you can see above.

Of course, there’s a short life span to many of Y-Que’s designs; the store’s writers’ strike T-shirt has already been marked down from $16 to $10.

Stripped in L.A.

(Flickr pic by Fridayinla.)

The L.A. Times’ Thursday “The Guide” section takes a look this week at the hidden treasures of L.A.’s strip mall culture:

Strip malls are a side effect of car culture, after all. But despite their questionable reputations (a blight on the cityscape, say some; Dante’s circles of hell, say others), our strip malls hold countless local gems, including gourmet restaurants, music venues, nightclubs and trendy shops.

A few strip mall restaurant faves, according to the paper: Alegria (3510 Sunset Blvd., Silver Lake), El Cochinito (3508 Sunset Blvd., Silver Lake), Hollywood Thai (5241 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood), La Taquiza (3009 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles), Lempira (4848 Hollywood Blvd., Los Feliz), Lou (724 N. Vine St., Hollywood), Mashti Malone’s Ice Cream (1525 N. La Brea Ave., Hollywood), Pho Cafe (2841 W. Sunset Blvd., Silver Lake), Saito’s Sushi (4339 W. Sunset Blvd., Silver Lake), Zankou Chicken (5065 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood).

Beverly Hills’ 1920s-era Clock Market — which has long since been turned into a car dealership — is considered the area’s first strip mall. As the story notes, the mini-mall phenomenon really took off int the 1980s, when they sprouted up everywhere.

I also blame the strip mall phenomenon for inspiring the current media trend toward combining celebrity couple names. Think about it: Long before Us Weekly began referring to “Bennifer” or “Brangelina,” strip mall developers were merging street names to lazily name their properties. Santa Monica and Fairfax? Hmmm… how about the “Santa Fair Plaza”!