Why Kitson Decided to Shutter Its Celeb-Faved Boutiques

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

The rent was too damn high—at least, that's what sources say is to blame for Kitson's demise. As previously reported, the trendy LA boutique chain is shuttering all 17 of its stores throughout California, Oregon, and Nevada, but it declined to give a reason for the closures.

Sources told WWD that a slow in US tourism, "lofty expansion goals", and debt incurred from retail space rents reportedly contributed to Kitson's financial fall; the retailer had closed its boutiques at the Beverly Center (it was taken over by Cos) and Hollywood & Highland earlier this year. We reached out to staff at the Melrose Avenue and Robertson Boulevard boutiques and were told that all stores are slated to shutter "sometime in late January," and that they're just waiting for all of the merch to clear the sales floor.

As mentioned, everything in stores is currently marked down to 30 to 60% off; we're told inventory is going fast, so swing by one of Kitson's eight LA-area locations soon.