2:24 PM | December 2, 2008
Remember back in the day when Melrose Avenue was the bomb? (Before the Starbucks and gridlock?) Well, the Los Feliz Ledger has nominated a stretch of Hollywood Boulevard as "the new Melrose." The paper reports a growing number of hip shops are lining the street. One of the originals is the Soap Plant/Wacko, which used to be on Melrose. Details:
"The landlords have been really great about encouraging interesting business to move into the area," said Heather Arndt, owner of the home and accessories store Happy. Confederacy, a few doors from Happy, is one of them. It’s a high-end indie fashion store for men and women that opened in October. The owners, stylist to the stars Ilaria Urbinati and actor Danny Masterson, added a Euro-style coffee shop and vintage newsstand to the shop. Closer to Vermont Avenue is Maya, an exotic jewelry and gift store. Its sister store was one of the first shops to invade Melrose before it was "Melrose." Other stores are expected to follow these trailblazers in the coming months. Arndt says a denim store and a record store are moving in. Restaurants and bars are expected to follow as well, according to Jonathan Sample from Fresh Pressed, a custom T-shirt screen shop also on the strip. "For a long time this area was just a traffic conduit from Sunset to the West side," said Sample. "It's becoming a destination."
Curbed L.A. coins a term: "Melrosification."
-- Shelby Grad
Photo: LAT file of the Vista Theater
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2008/12/the-landlords-h.html
