American Apparel No Longer on 5th

I spoke to the guy at the little men’s boutique fashion store next to where American Apparel was, and he told me that they would be opening up a women’s store in the adjacent space soon. So maybe they will be taking up American Apparel’s space.

My wife shopped there often and to her it appeared they were doing well. Yeah, it was a clearance store and the prices were excellent. Definitely a more convenient location than their factory.

It would be very interesting to know what American Appareil’s objectives were in opening the store in the first place. With that square footage, their profits were going to be pretty meagre. I recall last year talking to one of the people working there. He said the company was eyeing larger spaces elsewhere in the area and wanted to check-out the market.

The closure could also be related to the landlord who is a well-known as a difficult character. It wouldn’t surprise me if their rent went up dramatically.

But, what I find most interesting is the tone of LA.com post. I’m always puzzled by the ongoing hostility which downtown generates amongst people who live elsewhere in the city. I run into it all the time. Something about downtown getting better seems to rub fellow Angelenos the wrong way. Oft times it seems non-downtowners yearn for the place to fail.

When I looked at the Shybary Lofts they said the ground floor was going to be converted to a parking garage. (And they said in April 06 that it would be done in June 06 - yea right) That’s supposedly the reason the Rite-Aid is moving. Maybe those boutiques are going to become parking spaces?

I, too, understood the ground floor was being converted to parking and that is why Rite-Aid is moving. I do think it would be unfortunate if all retail were eliminated for a parking garage. If the parking structure fronts directly onto the street, it really kills street activity. Ideally, these smaller retail shops would remain to front 4th Street and insulate the parking garage from the street.

In the absence of thoughtful design by the developer, I think it could be good if the city had policies in place which mandated parking structures have retail insulating the parking garage. I’ve seen in cities like Vancouver where the exteriors of parking garages are hidden by retail, offices, trees and flowers. Certainly classes up structure and makes for a nicer interface with the street.

Yes, I agree - parking garages need to be set back from the street with human scaled streetscapes (retail shops, etc) in front of them. That huge parking structure on Main just north of 6th is a classic example of how one of those behemoths can absolutely destroy any sense of walkability or continuity along a street.

Hmmm… really the only places in LA that I’ve experienced that hostility toward Downtown is the West Valley and the Westside - must be something about them thinking we’re “crashing” their party. Well, speaking strictly for myself, I live Downtown precisely because I like the edgy, gritty, urban “vibe” here. I really don’t care for “their party”… with the overweening emphasis on appearances, trendiness and conspicuous consumption… not to mention abysmal traffic and endless homogenized chain stores. No, Downtown isn’t going to “take a fall” - at least not independently ofthe rest of LA, and I think it is precisely because of our diversity ad uniqueness that we will continue to grow economically and socially here. I just had a late dinner at Weiland’s - I’d take that over standing in line for an hour to get a table at The Lobster any day.

I smell another Famima!!!

imho, that was a poor location for a store. I only discovered it a couple of weeks ago, and never had a chance to go inside. The size and location made it nearly invisible. For example compare it to the high visibility of their store in Little Tokyo.

A better location might have been over in “Gilville.”

The perfect location would be at 7th and Fig mall. I wish they had an American Apparel instead of the redundant Macy’s.