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“I call it the new Larchmont. It’s rocking,” says Louis Eafalla, who has been operating his Village Heights gift shop in Larchmont Village for 17 years. “It’s really a shopping street again.”
The area — which features more than 50 stores and restaurants packed along Larchmont Boulevard between Beverly Boulevard and First Street — was established in 1921, and after taking a beating during COVID, has returned to become one of L.A.’s hottest neighborhoods. Levain Bakery, Clark Street Bakery and Faherty Brand have opened shops this year, with upcoming outposts for Sweet Lady Jane, Terroni, Suá Kitchen and Superette and Jon and Vinny’s Cookbook Market joining a mix of longtime mom-and-pops.
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Levain has been a particular crowd-drawer, according to many in the neighborhood, with the brand’s first L.A. location creating lines down the block. Lorna Sommerville, Levain’s chief commercial officer, says after looking at many areas throughout the city, the company’s founders were “instantly drawn to the charming feel of Larchmont Blvd, the walkable streets and the close-knit community.” It’s been so popular they even had customers camp in their cars on opening day, Sommerville says, adding, “we’re thrilled there seems to be a bit of a culinary and baked goods renaissance taking place on Larchmont.”
Canadian clothing brand DUER is also a newcomer on the street, opening up over the summer, and CEO Gary Lenett reports a similar level of early success: “We came out of the gate and we’re doing really well. I always say nothing’s as good as you ideally hope or as bad as you fear but this has been amazing — we’re really thrilled with the results in the first three months.”
And competition has become stiff, as Lenett says they competed with two brands to land the retail space. “It’s built-in foot traffic, which doesn’t exist in LA,” Eafalla says of the area’s appeal. “For people wanting to be on this street, some of them have waited for years.”
One of the reasons for this Larchmont resurgence, says Larchmont Village Business Improvement District co-executive director Heather Duffy Boylston, is the newly renovated Larchmont Mercantile: a complex of 13 storefronts that were purchased by real estate investment firm Christina for nearly $24 million in 2018. Those shops, which include Skin Laundry, The Scent Room and Holey Grail Donuts, have all opened within the past year, and while Larchmont Village was left with numerous vacancies after COVID, Boylston says there are currently few, if any, open properties. She also notes Larchmont’s Q conditions — which were written in the ‘90s to limit the number of sit-down restaurants allowed on the street, resulting in the boom of bakeries, coffee shops and takeout counters that currently fill the area — are working on being changed to welcome additional formal eateries.
Devin Klein, vp retail advisory for commercial real estate firm JLL, says rents have been going up slightly because of a lack of inventory. “It’s a bit like the Abbot Kinney of the Eastside,” he adds, though the cost per square foot in the area ranges from $6 to $12, about half that of the Westside neighborhood.
However, Sergio Boccato, owner of the popular Larchmont Wine & Cheese, which has been on the street for 28 years, says he doesn’t believe the upkeep has kept pace with the rising rents. “Our streets sort of look like, forgive my French, but look like shit,” with graffiti and buckling sidewalks. But Boccato acknowledges that with the new businesses that have come in recently, it’s become less of “a restaurant row or clothing row, it’s just been a little bit more diversity to the street.”
In response, Boylston points to the installation of bistro lights along the boulevard as an improvement and notes, “The property owners and merchants are continually working together as partners with our city to maintain and improve our village for years to come. Larchmont has an amazing renaissance, but we still maintain the character of a town square in the midst of a big city.”
This story first appeared in the Sept. 20 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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