Esprit gets physical in the U.S. with Los Angeles pop-up

By

Benjamin Fitzgerald

Published
Nov 1, 2022

Esprit announced on October 28 its first physical U.S. retail store location since 2012, with the opening of a pop-up store in Los Angeles, coinciding with a relaunch of the U.S. brand's local e-commerce site.

Located ​on the corner of 3rd Street and 156 S Robertson Boulevard, the 2,500-square-foot space, managed by Retail for the People, was designed by Thierry Dreyfus and artist Edward K. Ross of Eyesight Group, as an "homage to the positivity, creativity and togetherness Esprit stands for," according to a brand press release.

The new store draws on the brand’s Californian heritage, with design elements inspired by the West Coast. Bone white walls host six galvanized metal structures spelling out the iconic neon Esprit logo, which serve as shelves and clothing racks arranged throughout the length of the store, adjacent to natural elements within the space, including moss that surrounds the base of the logo structures.

Running until January 4, 2023, the Los Angeles pop-up will carry the brand’s current collection, as well as special capsule collections that will launch throughout the fall.

To celebrate the opening, Esprit will hold two shopping events on November 3 and 9, respectively, followed by the official launch party on November 16, and another shopping event on December 8.

Founded in San Francisco in 1968 by Doug Tompkins and Susie Buell, Esprit has since relocated its international headquarters to Hong Kong listed, coinciding with its Hong Kong Stock Exchange listing in 1993. In 2012, profitability woes saw Esprit shutter its U.S. retail stores, as it focused on its retail outlets in Europe and Asia.

In late September, Esprit announced London and New York as two new locations for its Futura innovation hubs; part of its digital strategy to “reinvent customer engagement experiences by turning data into insights, fuelling the brand’s global expansion matched to the fast-growing scale of digital change in today’s fashion retail landscape," said the brand at the time of the announcement.

In its most recent trading update, Esprit said its results for the first six months of the year saw it report its second consecutive profitable half-year, despite profits of HK$13 million (US$1.66m) being significantly lower than 12 months earlier.