85.7 F
San Fernando
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Menswear Retailer Closes Amid Industry Transition

After more than 60 years of business, Mel Fox, the Encino-based men’s clothing retailer, is preparing to close its doors, effective Feb. 29. The store, which has been in its current location on Ventura Boulevard for the past 10 years, has chosen to not renew its lease on the property. Store owner Andy Fox said the economic downturn, coupled with big-name competitors and higher rents, led to his decision to shutter the business and ultimately has changed the retail landscape in the area. The upscale boutique, known for its designer duds, once generated some $3.5 million in annual revenue and drew in a clientele of studio stylists for some of the nation’s most popular television shows, including “ER,” “Everybody Loves Raymond,” and “George Lopez.” “We have the competition of big stores — which are on sale at all times,” Andy Fox said. “We are also contending with the Internet and people’s shopping habits are completely different.” Andy’s father and the store’s founder, Mel Fox, said the retail climate has changed since he opened his namesake store in Burbank in 1949. The store relocated several times before settling into its current location in Encino. Selling upscale designer clothing and offering special services such as complimentary tailoring, the store held its own for a majority of its existence, attracting a steady stream of clients, including celebrities who resided in the area. Along with a steady clientele, the store also had some healthy competition. Mel, who retired about a year ago, said at one point, the Valley was home to some nearly a dozen men’s clothing boutiques. “Encino used to be the Beverly Hills of the San Fernando Valley,” said Jeannie Slitzky, manager and long-standing employee of Mel Fox. In his 41 years of working in commercial property management, Rickey Gelb, managing partner for Gelb Group, A Family of Companies, said the retail landscape has changed on Encino’s Ventura Boulevard and that “clothing stores are not the thing for Encino,” anymore. The area’s consumers have developed a more price-conscious shopping pattern, opting for Valley malls and big-box discounters with more customer–friendly return policies, perks and convenient parking , he said. “Smaller retailers don’t have that competitive edge,” Gelb said. Richard Leyner, senior vice president of real estate firm NAI Capital, said some Valley area retail operations, such as restaurants and car dealerships, are doing great. Meanwhile, he said, more boutique clothing stores, particularly in the men’s sector, are struggling. According to a report from Santa Monica-based market research firm, IBIS World, men’s clothing retailers nationwide have seen an average annual decline of 4.2 percent to total $7.9 billion. When Andy Fox renewed his lease five years ago, he said he was not expecting the changes that were to come. He said the Valley was booming. A year later, however, the retail landscape shifted with the nation’s financial crisis. “In the last four years, everybody in business, regardless of the business, has seen a decrease,” Andy said. In an effort to stay afloat, Fox managed to cut expenses in just about every aspect of his business, with the exception of rent. Although Fox declined to disclose what he pays, the average rents in Encino range from the lows $1.50 to $2.75 per square foot, Gelb said. Some of the area’s high rises exceed $3 per square foot and several new retail projects include asking rents of more than $4 per square foot. Gelb said the cost to run and sustain a business in the current economy is incredibly difficult with the long list of expenses retailers must tend to, including expensive renovations, the increasing cost of advertising and additional “non-recurring expenses that keep recurring.” When tenants receive notice of a rent increase or a pending expiration on their lease, many find it is just as easy to shut their doors and go home, he said. “Many retailers do not have the holding power to wait for a stronger economy,” Gelb said. Although Andy has yet to make any definite plans for the future, he said he is currently exploring other options and is even open to the possibility of reopening Mel Fox in a new location. As for the store’s founder, Mel Fox said although he is no longer involved in the family business, he thinks it’s “sad” the store is closing, as it is one of the last independent men’s stores in the Valley. “I just feel bad that 60 years have gone by and you just have to close up quietly and go away,” Mel Fox said.

Featured Articles

Related Articles