Creators of Rouze.com bringing Bodyhints to 462 West Broadway.

The San Francisco husband and wife team of Lauren and Allen Blankenship will be opening a new lingerie store called Bodyhints at 462 West Broadway, between Houston and Prince Streets, according to the Sinvin Realty Corp. broker who negotiated the lease. The same couple launched Rouze.com in 1999 and later sold it to Playboy. The new store will carry private label products as well as those from established designers. Plans are to have the Bodyhints Soho flagship store and e-commerce site open by October.

Christopher Owles, director of Sinvin Realty Corp., was the sole broker in the lease transaction, representing both landlord Ernst Aebi and the Blankenships. Bodyhints is taking a total of 4,000 SF of fully finished space in Aebi's building: 1,800 SF on the ground level and 2,200 SF in the basement. The terms of the lease are undisclosed, although the landlord had been asking $35,000 per month, an average of $233 per SF, based on the ground floor footage.

Bodyhints is occupying space formerly leased to the Dyansen Gallery. The Gallery renovated the space with new hardwood floors, HVAC, electric and lighting after a major fire, and shortly thereafter went bankrupt.

The Blankenship's first startup was Rouze.com, which became an immediate hit. Its success led to a profitable sale to Playboy Enterprises, in February of 2000. Both Lauren and Allen Blankenship served as Senior Vice Presidents at Playboy before leaving to start Bodyhints.

"The space at 462 West Broadway is ideal for Bodyhints," said Owles. "As theirs is a new concept there was no need to tailor the design of the store to match other locations. Thus, they were able to take advantage of the beautiful existing installation. Additionally, they benefit from the location, which neighbors some of the biggest names in fashion."