The Olsen Twins Finally Get Into Retail! The Row Store Opens On Melrose!

The Olsens are opening their first retail store! It’s a brand new world!
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are taking their clothing line The Row into its very own brick-and-mortar building on Melrose (8440 Melrose Place, to be exact).
The store’s already open, in case you wanted to take a look, but you might have some trouble finding it as the sign outside is very discreet, and you’ll still have to walk through white double doors and a narrow courtyard before you actually see the store itself.
Don’t let that stop you, though!
This has also been a long-time coming for the sisters. Mary-Kate said:

“We’ve always wanted our own store; it’s always been part of the plan. It was a toss-up between New York and L.A., and when this space became available, we jumped on it. It used to be a hair salon and my sister and I used to come here, so we were very aware of the space.”

The twins won’t be having a star-studded affair to herald the opening of the store, however. That’s just not how they roll.
Ashley explained:

“It was important to us to open up our doors quietly. We’re not going to have a party or anything; we want to make sure it’s set up properly, merchandised properly, that things are working. Maybe in a month or so we’ll do a dinner. For now, we just want to be open and get feedback from people close to us. We’ve always been one T-shirt at a time, one hire at a time. We still run our business that way. We take on what the company can handle when it can handle it. This is not a fast-fashion brand, and I think it’s important to allow [it] time to exist and grow the way it grows naturally.”

Well, the strategy is obviously working!
Mary-Kate also added that expansion into other realms will come in due time, saying:

“What├óΓé¼Γäós more important to talk about is that every step is really imperative to the brand and we don├óΓé¼Γäót like to do everything at once. We├óΓé¼Γäóll get into e-commerce sooner than later, but we want to make sure we do this right first. We will get into shoes in the next year. And hopefully men├óΓé¼Γäós. To us it├óΓé¼Γäós really about a lifestyle, and I think this store is a great starting-off point to express where we are going.”

Until then, visit The Row store if you’re in the area, but resist the urge to jump into that pool!
[Image via Donato Sardella]