The <i> R</i> Word? <i> Rodeo</i> , Dahling : Retailing: Judging by one day’s business, a pricey shop on the exclusive Beverly Hills street needn’t worry about slow sales.
In a back corner of the Theodore women’s shop on Rodeo Drive--after you pass the $6,000 cat suit, the $550 cashmere sweaters and the $1,000-plus sequined party dresses--there’s a simple advertising display for the store’s own line of fragrances.
There’s no description of the merchandise, just one image-laden sentence of advertising copy: “I always get what I want.”
That line also could be the motto of many of the people who shop at Theodore in Beverly Hills. “Our customer,” said owner Herbert Fink, “is a with-it person who is on the go.”
“She’s an important person,” he added, “who may run a movie studio.”
When the holiday shopping season arrives, these important, with-it people who always get what they want seem to want even more. At least, they buy more.
Across the nation, a recession appears under way, and many merchants this holiday season are doing everything but using a hook to pull wary customers into their stores. But things are done differently on Rodeo Drive, where a Times reporter spent one day this week gauging the rhythms of commerce at the Theodore boutique.
Business was steady at Theodore that day, apparently better than it’s been at nearby competitors. Fink said holiday sales at the store, one of his 10 fashion shops in Southern California, are up about 10% from a year ago.
Customers are buying fewer items, Fink said, but generally they are snapping up the more expensive ones.
Sure, there are markdowns, but these are Beverly Hills markdowns.
On the “40% off” rack, the price of a leather coat was slashed from $3,100 to a rock-bottom $2,170, a fake-fur coat was reduced from $980 to $588 and a suit was marked down from $1,200 to $720.
The price cuts have come a couple weeks earlier this year than usual, in response to competition from Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and others. Even if Theodore shoppers typically have big money to spend, “everybody loves a bargain,” Fink said.
And some customers--call them the untrendy minority--clearly do fret over prices. An elderly man who came in to buy a sweater and leggings as a present waved his hand and left, seemingly in disgust, after being told the total came to $805.96.
Salesperson Dawn Ortega, a native Texan who started working at Theodore six months ago, was startled. “We’ve had people come in to pick up something that they thought was $140 when it was really $1,400, but that doesn’t happen often,” she said. “Most of our customers aren’t that price conscious.”
Generally speaking, customers appear to be swayed more by fashion and quality.
“I look at prices, but I’m not running around with coupons,” said Lianne Barnes, a knitwear designer with her own firm in Santa Monica who stops at Theodore from time to time.
“If it’s very well made, I don’t mind spending money on it.”
A woman, looking at a pair of blue jeans, mentioned the P word.
It’s $165, the saleswoman reported. “Not bad,” the customer replied. Not so, said her female companion, a tall, glamorous blonde clad in black. “Actually, that’s high for jeans,” the friend said softly.
For the most part, it was a very low-key day--even after actress Joan Van Ark made a quiet entrance. She said she wanted a patent leather belt. Told that there were none, Van Ark said “thank you” and left.
The sales clerks played it L.A.-cool, aside from exchanging glances and a whisper after Van Ark departed. Margie Ketting, a 25-year-old sales clerk, explained that she often sees celebrities at work and when she goes out to the club scene.
“You’re with them all the time. They’re nice people,” Ketting confided.
The presence of a Times photographer and reporter didn’t whip up any excitement, either. One shopper after another turned down the opportunity to be interviewed. “Who are these people?” one regular asked.
Fink explained that his typical customer “doesn’t have time to monkey around,” and that some might be worried that their personal manager, husband or boyfriend would be angry if the news got out that they were out shopping on Rodeo again.
“Shopping is a very private thing. It’s like going to your psychiatrist,” he quipped.
As for that $6,000 rainbow cat suit on display at the entrance--a one-piece body suit covered with small sequins in a variety of colors--it evoked mixed reactions.
“We’ve had a lot of stars come in and try it on,” said store manager Susan Sanders. “It’ll sell.”
Not everyone was impressed. Later in the day, an elegant-looking woman in a red blazer took a step into the store, pointed out the suit to her male companion, giggled and walked out.
And not all of the sales pitches succeeded. A sales clerk told a bespectacled, conservatively dressed shopper who appeared to be in her 60s or 70s that “you’d look great in these sweats.” The shopper replied, “I’m too fat.” End of sales pitch.
No matter how rich most of the customers are, many would be considered undernourished if they lived in Milwaukee. “You can always tell the girls who look at Theodore,” said Fink, 67, a longtime Beverly Hills retailer who heads the Rodeo Drive Committee, a merchants group.
“They wear black. Very tight pants. Anorexic.”
These customers also can be demanding and aloof. They have been known to pull in front of the store in their cars and bang on their horns for a salesperson to come out. Others come in and pace through the store toting their dogs or talking into their pocket-size cellular telephones.
Still, the sales staff--all women, mostly in their 20s--say they like the respect they get from their better customers. And one of them, Lisa Ross, 23, recently got a nice surprise. “I’ve got the best customer in the world,” Ross said. “She sent me flowers and a fruit basket!”
THEODORE ON RODEO DRIVE About the owner: The Theodore women’s boutique on Rodeo Drive is one of 10 apparel shops in Southern California owned by Herbert Fink. His other stores include the Theodore Man store next door on Rodeo, along with the nearby Sonia Rykiel and Claude Montana French designer boutiques.
About the merchandise: Theodore sells various types of women’s designer apparel, but it says it specializes in trendy, casual “cruise clothes” or “beach clothes.”
Founded: 1969
Employees: 10
