Style
Supreme’s plans for a new Los Angeles store are causing controversy
Its second space in the city will be in Tower Records' old West Hollywood space.
Supreme has been ramping up the number of stores it operates across the globe, and now a second store in Los Angeles is in the works.
The New York City-based streetwear brand is reportedly building a new store in the former location of Tower Records in West Hollywood. According to local channel Fox 11, the current building will be bulldozed in February or March, and demolition is expected to be completed in August. While LA hypebeasts may be stoked for another Supreme location, residents of the neighborhood are concerned about the fuss the new store will bring.
The West Hollywood Heights Residents Association held a Zoom meeting Thursday to hear about plans for the store, and many residents expressed their displeasure with the impending arrival of Supreme. “We hear a lot of bad things happening at the Supreme store on Fairfax,” one resident said. “They have sales. They have people lining up days in advance. People are camping out. They're urinating in people's yards. There are fights. We don't really want that happening here.”
Is Supreme really that bad anymore? — While Supreme’s weekly releases have been known to cause a fracas in the past, such trouble is largely unheard of today. Customers no longer have the need to camp out for days in advance as Supreme now uses a raffle system to give out numbered spots in line.
Fights broke out back in 2015 in Los Angeles and New York City, and an LA pop-up for the Supreme x Louis Vuitton collection did have to be shut down in 2017. No incidents have been reported in either city since, and fear of urination aside, it seems as if Supreme bringing chaos is an outdated concern.
A second Supreme store in Los Angeles is, however, a sign of the brand’s increased growth, as it would be the third location opened in two years should it begin operating this year. The once crown jewel of streetwear risks further over-saturating the market with product with yet another outpost, leading us to wonder if Supreme is dying off.
