Hansen: Couple are working up the retail ladder with a spot in Pacific City

There were days when Adrien Lamoureux wondered if he would ever make it away from the koi pond at Fashion Island.

He could see the bobbing fish heads from his kiosk, and let’s face it, they get a little creepy after a while.

He and his wife, Lindsey, started their fledgling clothing and accessories business, West of Camden, in a small kiosk. In retail, it’s hard to start smaller than the kiosk.

That was in the fall of 2012.

Now, they just opened their second store in the brand new Pacific City shopping district in Huntington Beach. Their first store remains in Corona del Mar (westofcamden.com).

It’s one of those spirited independent stores that you can’t quite place. It’s young and timeless at the same time. When you walk in and linger, you don’t feel out of place or unwelcome because it has something for just about everyone — something cool, artistic and a little bit edgy.

“We like to say that we’re street meets beach,” said Adrien, who is the designer of the duo. Lindsey runs more of the business side. “We have a lot of stuff that tells stories and has an artistic twist.”

Pacific City, at 21010 Pacific Coast Hwy., is positioning itself as a retail and restaurant destination — and an alternative to big-box malls. There are ping pong tables and ample open sitting areas that look out to the Huntington Beach pier.

The space, which is not yet filled to capacity, sits on 31 acres and will have 191,000 square feet of shops, along with $2 parking every 20 minutes. There will also be a hotel and luxury apartment homes.

In the meantime, the stores are filling in. The national brand names include H&M, Tommy Bahamas and Crazy Shirts, along with several smaller stores.

West of Camden was one of the seven or eight stores that opened on day one.

“It was Nov. 5, last year,” Adrien said. “We thought we were going to open to crickets. But immediately all the hyper-locals showed up — people a block away, two blocks away all showed up. And from that moment on it’s been great.

“Yes, there’s been some days here or there where it’s really, really slow because people don’t know it’s here yet. And not all the stores are open. But it’s beyond our expectations so far and we’ve been very, very happy.”

It’s been an interesting progression for the couple. They met in college and have been together ever since.

“My wife studied fashion design in London, and she fell in love with Camden Market when she was over there,” he said. “Camden Market is very Berkeley-esque. It’s got a lot of local craftsmen and talent and music and food that all comes together that makes this huge market.”

Hence the name.

They make their own hats and T-shirts and other clothes using his designs. For about a year, they traveled to art fairs and sold their wares — at places like the McFadden’s Wharf Open Air Market at the Newport Pier and other markets in Santa Ana, Long Beach, Encinitas and San Diego.

They were honing their craft, learning what works and what doesn’t.

Eventually, they came back home to Newport Beach and opened the small Corona del Mar store in November 2014.

“I didn’t want to only do someone else’s designs. My dream was to step away and do my own thing,” he said.

Along the way, they never tried to get in too deep.

“Because at first we went with the kiosk, we tested the waters without hardly any money involved,” he said. “And we were able to put our designs out there without the potential of a huge loss.

“And because that worked, we went the art show route where we went every weekend and started to get a following. And from the following we were able to open up the store. And so with each part we had a little bit of a safety net.”

Now at Pacific City, they continue to experiment with their product line, based on client feedback. The mall environment — even if it is a cooler mall — is much different from a storefront off Pacific Coast Highway.

“Corona del Mar happens to be a very sleepy town,” Adrien said. “It’s very local space. I mean, we were right next to people’s houses, so we have to fit into the community. And I think we did a really good job with that.

“There is almost no walk-in traffic, and you have to really get to know people and be local. And that’s something we had to learn and learn pretty quickly.”

With the mall environment, however, foot traffic is not a problem.

“Our own stuff has actually done very well since we’ve opened up at Pacific City,” he said. “People want that local store. People also want that big brand where they can buy a few pieces for super cheap. Then they can buy a couple really quality pieces. I think this is the first place where you’re really going to have that mix.”

And for now at least, there’s no koi pond to distract anyone.

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DAVID HANSEN is a writer and Laguna Beach resident. He can be reached at [email protected].