Luxury shoe brand Palter DeLiso is staging a comeback.
The 87-year-old brand — re-launched in 2013 by president Lauren Bruksch and creative director Taz Saunders — is set to ship its resort collection in a month, following the opening of its Beverly Hills flagship last week.
“We were very focused on wanting to open a store early and it’s a strategic decision in that, as a brand developing a store, we have the ability to really make an immediate statement about who Palter DeLiso is and really immerse customers in our brand identity,” Bruksch said.
Bruksch projects the store could do at least $1 million in sales in its first full year in operation.
Palter DeLiso, named after the company’s founders Daniel Palter and Vincent DeLiso, sold women’s footwear and handbags up until the Seventies before it fell by the wayside.
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Bruksch and Saunders took on the rights to the brand 18 months ago after Saunders, the former vice president and co-producer of the reality series “The Contender,” teamed with Bruksch, a former Mattel marketing executive, to design their own shoe line. The pair stumbled upon Palter DeLiso in doing research for their line.
Opening a store in Los Angeles exposes the revived brand to a variety of shoppers, Bruksch said, who range from celebrities and stylists to twentysomethings and business professionals.
The company currently offers 35 shoe styles priced between $495 and $1,695, along with three different handbags.
The design of the 450-square-foot store at 9631 Brighton Way was in keeping with its “Hollywood Regency Meets Modern Luxe” inspiration and includes oak floors, a brass and Lucite shelving display and custom wallpaper printed with the company’s scepter logo.
The line in its heyday was sold in Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus among other luxury department store retailers where Bruksch would like to see the brand back in.
“It takes a few seasons to work through the mechanics,” Bruksch said. “We also don’t want to be an sku on a shelf.”
The collection is not on store shelves yet, but has participated in mini pop-up shops, most recently wrapping up Moda Operandi’s The New Guard trunk show.
Bruksch said a second store is an option but the focus is currently on the Beverly Hills location and growing the wholesale business. Pop-up shops are in the works for as early as next year.
From a longer-term revenue standpoint Bruksch would like to see a healthy mix of sales generated from e-commerce, the company’s own retail and wholesale. She also pointed to an opportunity in international growth.