Brands Bailey44 and Ali & Jay head to Santa Monica Place for holiday pop-up spaces
The Bailey Group’s concept of marketplace retail and in-store events is paying off. The company’s Bailey44 and Ali & Jay brands’ successes during two separate summer pop-ups in California at the Malibu Lumber Yard will now be followed up with a second set for the holidays at Macerich’s Santa Monica Place as the brands inch closer to permanent doors.
“We got a really great response [in Malibu] to the point that it makes us think about at some point in the future becoming year-round in Malibu,” chief executive officer Chris Tate said.
As the company mulls that possibility, he said, it made sense to move closer into the city for the holidays, going to Santa Monica in a location still accessible to the customer base the business had built over the summer, while also tapping a market that has expressed interest in the brands.
The Bailey44 brand will take up about 1,500 square feet at Santa Monica Place’s center court, with its sister brand Ali & Jay taking up another 1,500 square feet.
Both Santa Monica spaces will continue the marketplace concept that began at the company’s first permanent door at Lido Marina Village in Newport Beach that brings in other brands to round out the store offering, such as the Studio La Fleur floral shop and Stand Up to Cancer product and fund-raising event planned at the Bailey44 Santa Monica pop-up. It’s a tactic other retailers have also rolled out to create lifestyle concepts.
The pop-ups, slated to open Nov. 5 and operate through to February, are a run up to permanent doors at Westfield Century City, which is in the midst of an $800 million makeover that will see expanded retail space and parking, new tenants, technological enhancements and a design aesthetic courtesy of interior designer Kelly Wearstler.
The Bailey Group is set to open two separate, standalone stores for Bailey44 and Ali & Jay, with openings slated for next year.
“We believe in the vision of that property,” Tate said. “We think they are putting together a really compelling lineup so we wanted to be a part of that.”
