RETAIL MOBILITY: Alternative is thinking outside of the box with a mobile retail concept that will kick off Thursday in Hollywood and Santa Monica before moving to other U.S. cities, including New York, venues like music festivals and even vending machines. Under the brand name Limited Addition, Alternative is opening temporary stores that will carry its namesake lineup of casual clothing priced between $35 and $50, as well as eco-friendly items from Alternative Earth and pieces from the higher-priced grouping, Alternative Orange Label. Open until Jan. 15, the Hollywood store on Cahuenga Boulevard also will offer shoes, leather accessories and jeans from Tom’s, Jack Rabbit Collection and Dittos, respectively. The Santa Monica shop on Montana Avenue will be in business through March 15. In a slowing economy, Alternative chief operating officer Evan Toporek said his company is taking advantage of good real estate deals. “There’s more flexibility now in commercial real estate than ever,” he said. “Our consumer does many more things than shop in malls and strip centers.”
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— Khanh T.L. Tran
MORE THAN LUCKY: The Jonas Brothers can take lessons from Daryl Hall and John Oates on how to be rock stars. The teen trio hit the stage so late at last Friday’s gig hosted by 77kids by american eagle at the Roxy in West Hollywood that some of the sleepy children in the audience already had been carried home. Meanwhile, across town at Lucky Brand Jeans’ annual fund-raiser for its children’s foundation at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Hall and Oates rocked the black-tie crowd so hard with their Eighties hits that several ladies spun atop the lazy Susans on the tables until security guards asked them to step down. Among those departing the frenzied scene early was handbag designer Camila Alves, actor Matthew McConaughey’s significant other, who is lining up a bag collaboration with Lucky. But the most surprising celebrity endorsement came from Scott Weiland, the hard-living front man for the band Stone Temple Pilots. In the middle of his mellow set preceding Hall and Oates, the sinewy singer told Lucky founders Barry Perlman and Gene Montesano, and the rest of the crowd that helped raise $600,000, “The women’s sizes are great for rock stars” to wear.
— K.T.L.T.
ESHAYA’S FRESH START: John Eshaya, former vice president of women’s wear at Ron Herman, is launching his first freestanding store devoted exclusively to JET, the basics apparel label he founded 20 years ago. JET, an acronym for John Eshaya Tees, will open Monday at 420 Broadway in Santa Monica, part of the Fred Segal Santa Monica complex, a collection of independent boutiques whose landlord is retailer Fred Segal. The 900-square-foot space occupies the former Fred Segal Beauty retail space.
“I’ve always dreamed of having my own store, and Fred told me after I left Ron Herman [the retailer is Segal’s nephew] that I could come over when a space opened up,” Eshaya said. “I definitely wanted to open in time for the holiday season.”
JET carries the complete women’s collection, which comprises T-shirts, sweatshirts, leggings, jeans and jackets, as well as the kids’ line launched in March 2007 — with all prices $160 or less. In addition, there will be men’s wear exclusive to the store, as well as branded scarves and pillows. Eshaya will also carry the two fragrances he cofounded in 2005 and 2007, Be and Golden Amber. JET women’s and kids’ lines also retail in Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and 200 boutiques worldwide.
— Marcy Medina