Canadian retailer Aritzia has struck a deal to take over clothing brand Fred Segal and its ivy-covered flagship that’s become an icon on one of the most popular shopping streets in Los Angeles.
The Vancouver-based women’s apparel seller has acquired Fred Segal for an undisclosed price and has signed a lease to take over 8100 Melrose Ave., the 29,000-square-foot vacant yet prominent property that long served as the heart of the Fred Segal brand.
Aritzia plans on reviving both the brand and the store “for a new generation with the elevated experience and everyday luxury that define Aritzia,” according to a statement from Aritzia Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Wong.
“Fred Segal has long been a cultural touchstone in Los Angeles — a place where creativity, community and style converge,” Wong added. “We are honored to steward and evolve this iconic brand."
The deal underscores how established retailers are using brand acquisitions and marquee real estate plays to deepen customer loyalty and extend growth, even as brick-and-mortar retail faces continued pressure to justify its relevance through immersive and experience-driven environments.
Fred Segal, a company once known for its “California cool” fashion worn by celebrities, has struggled through ownership changes and store closures in recent years. Aritzia, meanwhile, launched in Vancouver in 1984 and has steadily expanded into a North American retail force with more than 125 boutiques and ambitions for as many as 200 U.S. stores.
“In many ways, Aritzia does not need Fred Segal,” said Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData, in a statement. “Its own organic growth and its headroom for expansion are both significant. However, this is a positive as it suggests the move is more strategic and future focused rather than being driven by the need to bolster short-term numbers.”
Luxury apparel revival
Aritzia plans to restore the Melrose property, including repairing the façade’s signature ivy, damaged during a recent storm, before transforming the site over several years into what it describes as a new experiential retail destination.
The company said the space will blend products with so-called immersive experiences, with the goal of marketing the property as a gathering spot that accomplishes more than selling clothes.
“As its results show, Aritzia is a master of brand building, storytelling, and product development and production,” Saunders said. “It is betting that it can use all these skills to revive Fred Segal and make it commercially sound.”
Saunders said Fred Segal’s previous struggles were less about brand fatigue and more about execution, including a lack of exclusive product and uneven expansion efforts.
For Aritzia, the acquisition opens the door to new growth vehicles in the United States, potentially including additional Fred Segal locations once the brand stabilizes.
If handled carefully, Saunders added, the brand addition could also support a broader menswear push, an area outside Aritzia’s core women’s focus.
Local LA flavor
Fred Segal’s trajectory over the past decade reads like a case study in the risks of scaling a cult brand.
The retailer’s stores that blended designer denim, laid-back basics and emerging labels drew celebrities, stylists and shoppers eager to tap into Los Angeles’ pop-culture pulse. The stores and name frequently appeared in movies and television shows as shorthand for fashion-forward life in the city.
The company opened its flagship Melrose boutique in 1973 and expanded aggressively in the 2010s under Sandow Media, followed by investment from Evolution Media Partners in 2014. The company shuttered its Melrose store in 2016 ahead of its relocation to a 13,000-square-foot flagship on Sunset Boulevard.
In 2019, licensing firm Global Icons acquired the brand and pursued further expansion, opening a Malibu store, launching in Seoul through a partnership with Hanwha Group and planning a Montreal flagship.
But by July 2024, pandemic-era retail headwinds and shifting consumer patterns forced the closure of all five California stores, leaving only a Las Vegas outpost operational.
“The affection in which Fred Segal is held, along with a sliver of nostalgia, provides the basis for rekindling the business,” Saunders said.
A local family owned the Melrose property for more than four decades before selling it in 2016 for $43 million to CormackHill LP, a Canadian retail investment firm, around the same time Fred Segal relocated to Sunset Boulevard.
Legal disputes over signage and brand rights followed, and while legacy tenants such as Ron Herman and Mauro’s Café remained for a time, the property gradually emptied. Aritzia briefly tested the waters at the property with a 400-square-foot pop-up in the building during the 2016 holiday season.
Aritzia’s full-building lease comes as the company’s U.S. sales are surpassing Canadian revenue — a milestone marked in 2023 — and as it scouts high-visibility real estate as a platform for its next chapter of brick-and-mortar growth.
Aritzia aims to expand
Aritzia was founded in 1984 by Brian Hill, who opened the brand’s first boutique inside his family’s Vancouver department store before launching a standalone location at Oakridge Centre.
Aritzia made its U.S. debut in 2007 with a store in Bellevue, Washington, marking the beginning of a real estate-driven expansion strategy that now includes flagships in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
The company has leaned heavily into securing prime retail locations, including a 46,000-square-foot flagship on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue and a 40,000-square-foot space in Vancouver’s Pacific Centre set to open in 2027.
That strategy appears to be paying off: U.S. sales now account for more than half of Aritzia’s total earnings.
CoStar News National Retail Reporter Linda Moss contributed to this story.