Rodeo Drive Opts for Old, Pricey Image

What Beverly Hills needs is a simple marketing gimmick, one that dispels the notion that you have to be rich to shop there.

That is what the Beverly Hills Visitors Bureau hoped to come up with when it embarked in October on a campaign that urged potential shoppers not to be intimidated by high prices in the city’s shops.

The plan was to lure customers by advertising items or “hidden treasures” selling in luxury shops for $25 or less.

But some merchants objected, asserting that it made them look cheap.

“We wanted to let people know that they don’t have to spend a fortune to shop in Beverly Hills to enjoy our atmosphere and hospitality,” said Catherine Sawelson, the bureau’s general manager. The program, she said, would “humanize” Beverly Hills in the minds of shoppers.

Catalogue Printed

The Visitors Bureau, an arm of the Chamber of Commerce, asked merchants to submit merchandise that shoppers would “associate with Beverly Hills . . . convey the Beverly Hills image and represent the Beverly Hills life style.” A catalogue was planned for worldwide distribution.

Twenty-four businesses responded. Cartier said it sold a sterling silver barbell key ring for $25. Giorgio had a T-shirt for $17.50. Gucci Shops listed a memo pad and pen set for $19.

The campaign was set to begin before the Christmas holiday but it was stopped before it was launched when Rodeo Drive merchants protested.

Effect Criticized

“The campaign was designed to give the impression that Beverly Hills is not expensive but the result is to say that Beverly Hills has something for poor people,” said Laura Segal, a spokeswoman for the Rodeo Drive Committee, a group of 26 merchants in the Chamber of Commerce. “It says that business in Beverly Hills and on Rodeo Drive is bad and stores are groping for customers. That is not true and it is not a clever way to market the city of Beverly Hills.”

Segal said the city should not be ashamed that it has a reputation as being expensive. “Our committee presents Rodeo Drive as what it is and what it is is a place to shop for quality merchandise, which is expensive,” she said.

The committee countered the bureau’s drive by putting out a holiday press release listing gifts available at Rodeo Drive stores. One item, a grand crystal liter of Giorgio fragrance for women, cost $500. Another, a diamond and platinum Art Deco necklace, cost $210,000.

‘Something for Everybody’

“Who wants to go into a store where the only thing you can buy is the cheapest thing?” Segal said. “Rodeo Drive has something for everybody, but there are only so many T-shirts and key chains you can buy.”

The protest forced a delay in the bureau’s program. “Basically, it is in a holding pattern right now,” said Michael Sims, the chamber’s director. “The concept was blown out of proportion. The program was designed to promote our shops and the various price ranges and products. The bottom line with any merchant is to get people into the stores.”

Still, announcements about the $25-or-less program appeared in several newspaper reports, some linking the campaign with a growing concern by Beverly Hills merchants over competition from Beverly Center, Century City Shopping Center and the coming Nordstrom’s at the Westside Pavilion.