DFS Galleria has “gone Hollywood” – literally – with its latest locale. The specialty retailer has opened a two-story, 44,000-square-foot space in the Hollywood & Highland retail/mixed-use development in the fabled section of Los Angeles. DFS'storefront runs along Hollywood Boulevard and its world-famous Walk of Stars, between Mann's Chinese Theatre and the entrance to Kodak Theater, the new home of the Academy Awards ceremony.
To capitalize on that locale, designers from the DLR Group (Seattle) decided the DFS space should take shoppers on a simulated tour of a movie-studio back lot. “People visiting Hollywood want to go behind the scenes, so we take them there,” says project designer Bob McClendon.
In addition, because DFS stands for “Duty-Free Shop,” its space within the Hollywood & Highland complex is designed to accommodate two different shopping-circulation paths – one for duty-paid items, and the other for duty-free ones. (While anyone can shop at a DFS Galleria, goods are sold on a duty-free basis only to international travelers showing a plane ticket that will take them out of the U.S.)
The first floor of the DFS Galleria sells such duty-paid merchandise as sunglasses, luggage, watches, snack foods and Hollywood paraphernalia. To enhance the space's behind-the-scenes motif, studio lights illuminate the space from adjustable hanging racks, and merchandise is offered in wheeled fixtures and displays designed to resemble stage-set storage trunks.
The second level is devoted to international boutique vendors – including Burberry, Celine and Louis Vuitton – selling high-end items available duty-free. To give that space a swankier feel, DLR designers fashioned an arte-moderne environment, complete with marble flooring and gilded finishes.
Client Design Team: DFS North America, Torrance, Calif. – Julian Levy, president; Ron Japinga, vp, retail; Claudia Gerard, project manager; Walt Lichtenberg, vp, construction; Diana Broberg, construction manager
Design Team: DLR Group, Seattle – Steven McKay, design principal; Michael Bartunek, creative director; Robert McClendon, senior project designer; Erin Reichman, project manager; George Goodfellow, project architect; Richard Higgins, fixture designer
Contractors: Hathaway Dunwiddie, Los Angeles (general contractor); Scenery West, N. Hollywood, Calif. (theming construction)
Outside Consultants: Tom Wolf Farrow Inc., Newport Beach, Calif. (mechanical consultant); Englekirk Partners, Los Angeles (structural consultant)
Suppliers: Columbia Showcase & Cabinet, Sun Valley, Calif., Spencer & Reynolds, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., Manhattan Store Interiors, Brooklyn, N.Y. (fixtures)
Tom Bonner Photography, Venice, Calif.