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Fred Segal, one of California’s most recognisable specialty retailers, has closed its two remaining stores in Los Angeles, its owner Jeff Lotman confirmed Wednesday, citing lingering challenges from the pandemic.
The Fred Segal website has also shut down, though the Fred Segal furniture store in LA’s Culver City neighbourhood will remain open, as will its shop-in-shop concept at Resorts World Las Vegas.
“Fred Segal is closing stores due to challenges in the retail industry and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic,” Lotman said in an email statement of BoF. “The shift to online shopping, economic uncertainties, and decreased foot traffic have made it difficult to maintain physical store operations.”
Lotman is the chief executive at licensing firm Global Icons. When he purchased Fred Segal in 2019, it had eight locations worldwide, including licensed outposts in Switzerland, Malaysia and Taiwan.
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The eponymous Fred Segal first opened the store in 1961. In the ensuing decades, the signature red-and-blue logo would become synonymous with upscale fashion in Los Angeles. At its peak in the 1990s and early aughts, Fred Segal was frequented by the likes of Paris Hilton, Cameron Diaz and Madonna.
When Lotman purchased the retailer in 2019, he had no intentions of running it as an operator but fell into the role after the pandemic struck, he told the Los Angeles Times in a report published Tuesday.
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