BEST MADE OPENS RETAIL STORE IN LOS ANGELES

Best Made, the New York-based retailer and manufacturer of outdoor-oriented apparel and other goods, will open its second retail store on Friday, November 10 at 145 South La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles. The company’s other retail location is on 36 White Street in New York’s TriBeCa neighborhood.

“We’ve been planning for this location about a year, but we only got the keys a month ago,” confides company founder and CEO Peter Buchanan Smith. “I’ve been coming out here for a long time, visiting friends and doing business, and I really love the city and its retail culture. There are so many new exciting things happening that it seemed wrong to be not represented here. And while we are known for outerwear and similar winter-oriented categories, many Angelenos do like to escape to places like Mammoth and other cold-weather places, and the store is tailored to that customer.”

As Buchanan notes, the Los Angeles store is 2,700 square feet, about three times the size of the White Street location. “The New York store has allowed us to evolve our retail concept, and so the L.A. store will feel fully fleshed out. It is anchored by a big central island, like you might see in an old hardware store, which we think is a place our customers can continually come back to in order to see product or get information. We will also have a small indoor archery range, which will primarily used just to test product, as well what we call an Axe bar, which is an L-shaped bar with axes behind it, that will be a place to host workshops or have customers talk with a sales associate. While it’s not a true bar, they will be able to offer them beer, coffee or something to drink. In addition, there will be an area called The Snug, which is a small gallery space that will rotate exclusive, curated product.”

The store is just part of the company’s growth plan. “This shop is a huge investment for company, both emotionally and financially,” says Buchanan. “It’s big step forward, since our current sales are about 80 percent online and 20 percent retail. But we’re interested in growing! We have more outerwear coming out this season, as well as other new apparel; we’re launching a line of products for dogs called Beast Made; and, of course, we’re planning more retail stores. We feel we’ve got a lot of wind in our sails right now.”