Fred Segal

Fred Segal is a high end, trendy clothing boutique located in the Los Angeles, California area. There are two Fred Segal stores currently: the Fred Segal Fun store, located in Santa Monica, California, which is a converted ice rink and one on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Other offshoot stores that fall under the Fred Segal umbrella do exist.

The stores were founded by the man of the same name, Fred Segal, in 1958, when he opened a small 700 square foot store on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, California. Segal was working for H.I.S. Sportswear at the time and saw an opportunity to promote a new thing in the fashion industry, custom jeans. Segal opened the first jeans only store in 1960 as a way to draw in even more business and then came up with the concept of a "Jeans Bar" which featured unique styles along with top notch service and the ability to cater to a wide array of socioeconomic classes.http://www.fredsegal.com/

Segal also came up with an innovative business strategy, in employee store ownership. This gave him the opportunity to pick the brains of experts in several different retail substructures, while giving them a vested interest in growing and expanding the business that bore his name. This strategy directly led to the opening of his second store in Santa Monica in 1985. The business also won the Retailer of the Year award at the 2007 LA Fashion Awards.http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_pwwi/is_200710/ai_n21071854/

In 2008, Fred Segal was at the center of the sudden demise of the Victoria Beckham dVb Denim line. The boutique, along with another major boutique in the Los Angeles area, Kitson both dropped her line.http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7010635930 It was stated that it was due to low sales, though the owner for Kitson, Fraser Ross added the following statement:

"She's not supporting the line," Ross said. "It's not good for her brand and not good for her endorsements. In a tough economy, you need to be in partnership with the people that are selling your line to your fans. That's the bottom line."http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2008/05/04/2008-05-04_victoria_beckham_sues_denim_company_rock.html

Beckham went on to file a lawsuit against the brand that made her jeans, Rock & Republic in 2008, claiming that they owed her nearly $100 million after the two entities parted ways in [[2006]. Beckham claimed she was owed the money because the line was more profitable than originally thought. The jeans retailed for $300 and came out starting in 2004.http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2008/05/04/2008-05-04_victoria_beckham_sues_denim_company_rock.html

Beckham would go on to drop the lawsuit in September 2008.

"Victoria had meetings with her (legal) team, who have advised her extensively on the case. She just wants to move on and focus on her own successful line of clothing and draw a line under the matter. She doesn't want to spend any more time or money on it," a source told the British paper the Sunday Express.http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/lifestyle-fashion/stylenews/victoria+beckham-5598.html