Iconic California fashion retailer Fred Segal has closed its two remaining stores in Los Angeles.
Founded in 1961, the store became a fixture of the city’s fashion scene and a symbol of laid-back Los Angeles style.
The store was a favorite of celebrities including Jennifer Aniston, Rihanna and Paris Hilton, and even became a pop culture staple in movies like Legally Blonde and the television shows Beverly Hills: 90210 and Dawson’s Creek.
In the 1995 cult hit film Clueless, Cher, played by Alicia Silverstone, asks her housekeeper to help her find her “white collarless Fred Segal shirt” because it is her “best looking outfit.”
The company, which once had nine locations in California, closed its remaining stores in West Hollywood and Malibu this week.
Iconic California fashion retailer Fred Segal has closed its two remaining stores in Los Angeles
Founded in 1961, the store became a fixture of the Los Angeles fashion scene (pictured: Interior of a Santa Monica branch in 2008)
Owner Jeff Lotman, who bought the company in 2019, said Fred Segal has been unable to recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on sales.
Before the pandemic hit, the company had deals pending to open stores in Canada, Dubai and Japan, he said. The Los Angeles Times.
Lotman, who is chief executive of brand licensing company Global Icons, hoped to open 20 new stores in cities across the United States.
“The company has been running for 60 years and it is a shame that it is finally coming to an end,” Lotman said.
He said one of the main problems was that Fred Segal did not have enough private label products and was too reliant on hundreds of outside brands.
“That’s really what we needed to develop to make this work,” he told the outlet. “Retail is hard and being a multi-brand retailer is even harder.”
While all fashion retailers and online stores have closed, a Fred Segal home furnishings store will remain open in Culver City.
The Segal family owns the Fred Segal brand, so any decisions about opening more stores in the future will be up to them, Lotman said.
Larry Russ, the family’s attorney, said this is not the end of the road for the brand, but he was unable to share further information with the LA Times.
“We will look for a new operator to open more stores in the future,” he said.
Lotman told DailyMail.com: ‘The shift to online shopping, economic uncertainties and declining foot traffic have made it difficult to maintain physical store operations.
“Hopefully one day someone can pick it up and get it going again; it really is one of the best fashion brands out there.”
In the 1995 cult hit film Clueless, Cher, played by Alicia Silverstone, asks her housekeeper to help her find her “Fred Segal collarless white shirt.”
Rihanna and A$AP Rocky pictured outside the West Hollywood store in 2022
The store was a favourite of Hollywood celebrities (pictured: Florence Pugh in January 2024 and Denise Richards and Aaron Phypers in 2022)
The store was a celebrity favorite and a symbol of California cool (pictured: Pete Davidson and Machine Gun Kelly shopping in May)
This comes at a time when retailers across the country are suffering the consequences of the pandemic and the pressure of higher operating costs.
Retailers of all sizes are closing their doors, and even big brands are being forced to close stores.
Major department store chain Macy’s, for example, announced earlier this year that it would close a third of its stores by 2026, including 50 this year alone.
The astronomical rise of online rivals and the disappearance of suburban shopping malls and downtown districts are among the factors that experts say have contributed to the company’s decline.
Others blame the disappearance of the middle class, a failed digital transformation or a failure to attract a younger generation of consumers.
Department store colleagues Both Neiman Marcus and JCPenney have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and Sears now has just a dozen stores nationwide. – after having more than 4,000 stores in 2012.