Fears among retailers and brands that protests in Los Angeles over the death of George Floyd would devolve into looting have been realized in some areas.
On Saturday evening, an Alexander McQueen store on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills was broken into and looted, according to live video aired by a local CBS station. Dozens of mainly young men streamed into the McQueen store after the glass of its doorway was broken. A large display window was tagged with “Make America Pay.” The store had not been boarded up like most of its neighbors had earlier in the day. Some that entered the store ran out with handfuls of merchandise and handbags.
Not long before, the Gucci store on rodeo was tagged with “Eat the rich” and protestors attempted to breach its blue plywood barricade, but left when police approached. Dozens of police, many in riot gear, have been present in and around Rodeo since early afternoon as protests in L.A. began to grow and move west from the Fairfax/Grove area of L.A.. The police did not attempt to stop the looting of the McQueen store.
As of 6:30 p.m., the CBS station was showing video of a Nordstrom department store within The
Day: May 31, 2020
As thousands of demonstrators protesting the death of George Floyd by a Minnesota police officer moved westward in Los Angeles, luxury retail started to board up in fear of riots and looting.
The entirety of famed luxury shopping strip Rodeo Drive was blocked to traffic by early afternoon on Saturday, as protestors were still miles to the east. The Beverly Center, a mall in West Hollywood that houses a number of luxury brands, also decided to close entirely on Saturday, a representative confirmed. The center had just reopened on Friday, after L.A. officials suddenly announced earlier in the week that in-store shopping could resume after months of being prohibited due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Gucci’s just reopened store on Rodeo Dr. was quickly boarded up on Saturday in fear of protests.
Kali Hays/WWD
On Rodeo, the likes of Gucci, Prada, Dior, Rolex, and Louis Vuitton were being hurriedly boarded up by workmen as of midday on Saturday. A number of the stores had slowly started to reopen since Wednesday, allowing shoppers inside and refreshing merchandise displays. On Saturday, the same stores were again locked and emptied of all merchandise as police stood at traffic barricades.
In Beverly Hills and the Downtown area of L.A., an