Esprit scouting market as it prepares return to retailing.

AFTER shuttering all its U.S. stores in 2002, casual clothier Esprit is scouting space in Los Angeles as it prepares for a return to West Coast retailing.

Hong Kong's Esprit Holdings Ltd. acquired Esprit's U.S. fights and logo in 2002. Esprit de Corp., the San Francisco design business that was incorporated in the 1970s, reached its peak a decade later before fading. It went into receivership in 1996.

Its women's wear has remained available in Macy's department stores, but Esprit is now working with Madison Marquette Realty Services LP to locate space for its branded stores.

"We're not going to open just one store in Los Angeles, we want to open five or 10 at one time," said Jack Schwefel, executive vice president of Esprit U.S. retail in New York.

The company reentered the U.S. market in September with the opening of a flagship store in Manhattan and now has six stores in the New York metropolitan area. It expects to have at least 10 stores in the New York area by the June close of its fiscal year.

While it's possible that Esprit stores will open here as early as the end of 2005, "we're taking our time," Schwefel said. "This company was born in California. When we re-enter this market, we want to make sure we do it in a way that is substantive; significant and makes sense."

Esprit is seeking 4,500- to 6,000-square-foot locations in high traffic areas, he said. And despite the new ownership, Schwefel said the essence of the brand remains similar. "It's a very youthful luxury product for everyone," he said.

Though its U.S. retail operations have been gone for several years, Esprit generated more than $3 billion in worldwide sales for the fiscal year ended June 2004.

Still, said Richard Giss, partner in the Los Angeles office of Deloitte & Touche, getting back into the U.S. retail market may prove challenging.

"It's always difficult to re-establish a brand," said Giss. "In some respects, it's a lot easier to start one if you happen to hit on a product that gets wide public acceptance because there are not preconceptions about what you're offering."