New concept store in Miami: a denim bar, soon in NY city!
Elie Akiba’s denim-centric store Lulu has found a new home at the Bal Harbour Shops in Miami. While shopping habits of his largely international customer base have changed, denim remains a performer. According to Akiba, customers who used to buy three or four pairs of jeans are now homing in on a single “It” pair with a special fashion item that justifies the price. Akiba has taken the idea of delivering service to a new level in Lulu’s latest incarnation of a store on the model of a French brasserie. A hostess greets shoppers and assigns them a server, who shows items behind a zinc bar complete with authentic trimmings such as Thonet stools, menus and complimentary drinks, from espresso to martinis. As in a typical French restaurant, discounts are given for ordering “le complet”. The three courses are made up of jeans, a T-shirt and sneakers. Receipts even feature a space for tips.
A blend of nostalgic SoHo and Paris, decor begins with brick walls, polished cement floors and white subway tiles. Akiba is now thinking to find a great space in NY!
January 16th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
I hope we are going to have this kind of jeans bar in NYC very soon. There is one also in Israel that is fabulous. We really need one in Paris, as well.