New balance stores set to make a run for more L.A. locations.PAUL Tordella is running with the New Balance store concept. The owner of shoe retailer FrontRunners Inc., which has a FrontRunners store in Brentwood as well as New Balance stores in Santa Monica Santa Monica (săn`tə mŏn`ĭkə), city (1990 pop. 86,905), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1886. Tourism and retailing are important, and the city has motion-picture, biotechnology, and software industries. and Torrance, has plans to open two to four more New Balance locations in the county. He's looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. possible sites in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. , Pasadena, Valencia, Palmdale and Lancaster. After FrontRunners locations in the Westside Pavilion The Westside Pavilion is a shopping mall located in West Los Angeles. It is owned and operated by The Macerich Company. It is a three story urban-style shopping mall with 150 shops and is anchored by a Macy's (formerly May Company and later Robinsons-May) and a Nordstrom. and Santa Monica Place Santa Monica Place is a three-story, 570,000 square-foot shopping mall in Santa Monica, California. The mall is located at the south end of the famous Third Street Promenade, and is also two blocks from the Santa Monica Pier and the beach. malls closed, Tordella decided to stick with drive-up, destination stores in high-income areas. The New Balance tag, which he has the exclusive right to use in the county, gives the stores instant name recognition. "The day I put a sign up that says 'New Balance,' the customer knows what I stand for," said Tordella. With New Balance, he added, "I have a simpler business model and a national brand." Tordella's relationship with Boston-based New Balance Athletic Shoe An athletic shoe is a generic name for a shoe designed for sporting and physical activities, and is different in style and build than a dress shoe. Originally known as sporting apparel, today they are known as casual footwear. Inc. dates back to the early 1990s when he put a New Balance section in the Front-Runners store. In 1998, the company approached Tordella to open a New Balance location. Tordella suggested a 7,500-square-foot flagship, much larger than the 1,800 square feet the New Balance stores averaged at the time. "I showed them a vision for their own brand that they didn't have," he said. After vetting vet 1 Informal n. A veterinarian. v. vet·ted, vet·ting, vets v.tr. 1. To subject to veterinary evaluation, examination, medication, or surgery. 2. several locations, the Santa Monica New Balance store started serving customers in 2000 and the Torrance location opened last year. Now, Tordella said the Santa Monica store is the top revenue-generating New Balance outlet, while the Torrance store is in the top 10. Across the country, there are now 125 New Balance stores. Following the example set by Tordella, newer stores are roomier than older stores and usually run about 3,000 square feet. Tordella said consumer interest in New Balance has grown considerably. Early in the brand's history, he said, it had a following in the middle-aged middle-aged adjective Referring to a person between age 45 and 65, used in taking a history. Cf Elderly, Older. crowd. It was only when the company came out with a popular trail running shoe that teens and preteens started snatching up New Balance. However, Tordella isn't ignoring his FrontRunners location. The store, which opened in 1977, is undergoing an expansion that will increase its selection of active apparel. After that expansion is completed in the spring, the store will renovate the current shoe retailing space. |
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