Open To Buy: Mother-Daughter Channel Checks

Edikted, Cider, and Princess Polly. Channel checks with Gen Alpha

Open To Buy

• Field Notes - The Teen Scene

• Fashion Finds — following up on a few Forecasts

• Beauty Finds - Violet Grey picks

• In My Feed - fun stories and content I enjoyed reading this week.

In this send: I’ve spent the past few days in L.A. and have the teen version of Channel Checks today. I’ll keep sprinkling more in the next few sends. Plus: Tysons Corner, The Grove, Edikted, digital cameras, Y2K, polly pocket, whimsical crayon bracelet, hot & unbothered, Revice, the dress I’ve worn all summer (it has pockets!), Matteau, Violet Grey, Luigi Massoni Dilly Dally, Dairy Boy Sport, and channel checks forever!

Let me know in the comments, any stores you channel checked this weekend?

Field Notes — The Teen Scene

Growing up my mom would take my brother and me from Virginia Beach, Va. to Tysons Corner in Northern Virginia for back-to-school shopping. The early days of my channel checks. We had very few options in the Va. Beach area and it was always a fun way to get excited for the new school year. I can remember the item I was most excited about each visit. One year it was a navy blue peacoat from Nordstrom, before college it was a pair of Levi’s denim because I could finally wear jeans to school (my high school had a no jeans dress code).

I’ve been antsy to visit the Post Montecito, La Ligne’s new shop at Montecito Country Mart, a few spots in L.A. and my daughter loves The Grove (Edikted!!) so we decided to do a mini mother-daughter road-trip Channel Check before school starts in the Bay Area next week. Here are a few of the notes from Channel Checks for the teen stores at The Grove in L.A. I have more Channel Checks I’ll keeping writing about in future Private Label sends from this trip.

⚠️ I’m going to state the obvious here so we can be aligned and you don’t need to wonder: I am not a photographer. If I focused (pun intended) a little more I bet I could be, but I take these snaps on the go. I wouldn’t share in my newsletter under normal circumstances but they help illustrate the idea. Additionally, this is how I would normally take them for my own notes in stores. Early days of when I was a buyer there was — ahem — no iPhones. And strict no photos in stores policies. This was before Instagram and now stores (often/generally) love when you take a photo and post online to share the good stuff. In the early 2000s it would get you a stern talking to because sales associates and store managers knew you were there to take photos for samples and inspiration for visual merchandising. I would use my digital camera and pretend to take a photo of my coworker in a funny touristy pose just to take a photo of the display next to her. Okay, bad photos but interesting ideas below.

The Grove

Our first stop. We were there on a Thursday late afternoon/early evening. I heard from employees that the weekends were busy all summer but during the week has been quieter. They said this week it finally started to pick up during the week too. L.A. Unified Schools go back August 12th but many private schools start in early September.

Edikted - The Grove L.A.

• Edikted (the new teen fast fashion store, basically taking the place of Forever 21 and Wet Seal depending on your generational context) was calmer than it has been in past visits. It was still busy but there wasn’t a long line for the dressing room and the counter checkout was never more than about 10 people deep. Lots of pinks and teals up front, darker colors towards the back, lots of country/football (soccer) inspired tops which feels like a hold over from the World Cup.

• Images above clockwise from top left:

  • Edikted camouflage tank top that reminded me of the trending sweatshirt that the teens went wild for during back to school 2024. Casey Lewis reported on it.

  • Edikted tote bags with the collegiate lettering.

  • Edikted handbag that immediately made me think of this. I’m sure you know without even clicking the link. Given that my daughter kept telling me she wanted to go thrifting for Y2K styles it seems like Edikted was inspired by the same Y2K trends.

  • Edikted works fast to get new products to the floor. It seems from this photo that they are selling samples that either didn’t go into final production or have a limited quantity. I haven’t seen a store of this type do this before outwardly. I’ve seen insider sample sales for employees. Most stores wouldn’t want random product on the floor that didn’t fit in. At Edikted it all feels random. Also, with only one item it is hard to get any data. I’m curious how much revenue they drive from these samples over the course of the year. Feels like a version of “zero waste” which is totally ironic with fast fashion.

• Next stop was Cider. This is Cider’s first and only brick-and-mortar store at the moment. My daughter wasn’t super familiar with the brand but I had seen the “opening soon” sign in the spring and wanted to come back. The interiors and visual merchandising was super fun. Very social media forward. Since I operate my channel checks like a teaching hospital, I asked my daughter for her interpretation of Cider vs Edikted. Cider had a lot more dresses and felt more dressed up. Lots of dark colors. I would agree with my student’s assessment. Cider felt like it had more put together looks and Edikted is a lot more casual (camisole tank tops, knit shorts and sweatpants). Cider you could also find dresses for a school dance or homecoming and I don’t really see that at Edikted. We also really like the dressing rooms at Cider and I kept thinking of them in contrast to Brandy Melville. Heavy curtains in Cider with heavy magnets in the curtains that quickly clipped to metal rods and stayed shut. Very secure.

  

  

  Cider - New store at The Grove L.A.

• Images above clockwise from top left:

  • Cider bag wall from behind the cash wrap. Tote bags as display everywhere! I saw this when we visited an American Eagle recently too.

  • Lots of hair accessories and silks. We also saw plenty of scrunchies and claw clips.

  • Jewelry. The cat outline was seen throughout the store. Also lots of apple and fruit imagery.

  • The front of the store had the I heart LA t-shirts and tank tops.

  • The shag carpeted displays. I thought the visual merchandising was done really well. Playful and the space was large so it didn’t feel crowded compared to the Edikted at The Grove. But Cider is a little off the main section. It is upstairs above the Farmer’s Market side. But it has a nice red patio out front.

  • An example of the more dressed up clothing — floral skirt. The back of the store was filled with silky pastel dresses.

• Princess Polly, which I like to call Princess Polly Pocket. Polly Pocket has been on the collab scene: Ever-eden collab, Alex & Ani collab, Nadine Ghosn collab (Warning, semi related spiral 🌀: Request for any readers with insight or connections here — I’ve been researching the recent Alex & Ani collab with Crayola and the minute I saw it I thought of Nadine Ghosn’s whimsical crayon bracelets. Ghosn’s bracelets are no longer on her site. Then the Polly Pocket collabs at both Alex & Ani and Nadine Ghosn?? I’m spiraling and want to know the story here. Email me sarah@privatelabel.ltd) Back to Princess Polly — they have had a pop-up here all summer. They were supposed to wrap up now but are staying until January. Looking for a permanent space at The Grove. It is the tiniest corner at the bottom of the parking garage near the concierge desk. It was designed well but a little cozy. The quality of the tank tops felt like a step up from Edikted and Cider. Some had the softness of Aritzia but not as nice. Priced in the $30s for the tank tops. The dressing room (if you can call it that) was very makeshift. We had to wait a long time because there were only two “rooms” that are just curtains literally held together with a claw clip. But I laughed as I realized my daughter has never had the joy of experiencing the Loehmann’s Back Room.

  

  

  Princess Polly - The Grove L.A. pop-up

• Images above clockwise from top left:

  • Princess Polly product

  • mother - daughter having fun and being “hot & unbothered”

  • The claw clip holding the curtains together in the dressing room. As silly as it is, it’s a step up from the bubblegum that (allegedly) forced Brandy Melville to close all their dressing rooms after customers resorted to the DIY tactic.

  • Thick knit tank top at Princess Polly. I took a photo of this because we saw this extra thick and verigated knit rib in Edikted, Cider, and Princess Polly.

• Lululemon — This is one of my daughter’s favorite spots but she was disappointed in the assortment at The Grove. I would agree that the store was rather small compared to our local one in Walnut Creek, CA. My one photo worth sharing here is that I saw the stack of shorts in this specific blue and orange color-way and immediately thought “go Knicks”! That is what has happened to my brain. I’m not sure if that was intentional of Lululemon or just a happy coincidence. (Bad photo but cobalt blue and bright orange.)

  

  Lululemon - The Grove - Go Knicks!

• Skims at Nordstrom — see image below. I’m curious why Skims didn’t go all out and do the stitched on lettering for this or something more impactful á la Parke. Skims screen-print is $98 and Parke sewn letters $135.

  

  Parke sewn vs Skims screen print

• On Melrose we saw a long line outside Revice. I wasn’t even familiar with this spot. The student became the teacher, and my daughter told me it was a denim retailer. Very much like Edikted but heavy in the denim versus the other fast fashion spots.

  

  Line outside Revice Denim on Melrose

Fashion Finds

• I’ve been wearing this dress all summer and it is my absolute favorite. It has pockets! It is beyond easy to wear, so comfortable, packs easily for trips, can be dressed up or down. Is there anything it can’t do? Then I read Monica Ainley DLV interview with Matteau co-founder Ilona Hamer and it made me love it even more. Other pieces I love from the brand are this maxi in blue and if I needed a dressier option in black this would absolutely be what I would buy.

• This dress feels like an automatic best seller for Tuckernuck.

• While doing Channel Checks I found more of the trends I’ve been Forecasting:

  • the splashy blue shade — a maxi dress from Roame, and a cardigan at Paloma Wool and I was reminded that I actually do own something in this shade. Shocking! But it is the packaging of these fantastic bronzing drops.

  • High Vamp Flats keep coming in. Alaïa, Atorie, Reformation in suede, J. Crew, and Dear Frances. Full round-up here.

  • Polka dots coming in for fall too.

• Remember the Bruno sweater from the brand Interior? This sweater has a similar but less intense neckline.

🛍️ Quick note: I write a lot (too much good stuff to share!) If you’re reading via email only, you may need to click through to the web version or read on the Substack app. I promise it will be worth it. 🛍️

Beauty Finds

• Congrats to Jessica Blumenthal and Celisse. She shared that the red nailpolish and other new products created the biggest day in Celisse sales.

• Opportunity: Violet Grey is offering memberships for readers of Private Label. The retailer uses this program to engage the most loyal shoppers and beauty obsessives who like to try all the new products. A few features of the program:

  • 5 percent of every order returned as credit to your VIOLET GREY wallet

  • Faster shipping. aka Complimentary two-day shipping

  • 5 percent additional on top of all promotions (so if everyone else is receiving 15 percent on a sale, you will receive 20 percent)

  • Early access to coveted Violet Boxes and new launches

  • Close Friends-only promotions and surprise gifts

• A few of my favorite items at Violet Grey worth checking out:

  • the eye cream I’ve been using every night

  • I have this foundation and it sells out all the time. Quick, because the shades are now in stock at Violet Grey.

  • The new Roz Milk Hair Mousse is on the just approved list

  • This fancy lip compact — I own 2 different shades. They also make such a nice gift.

  • I’m not so talented with eye make-up but even I can apply this eyeliner. My trick is to sharpen every time before I use. Victoria Beckham shared this trick on a video but I also thought maybe she was telling people to do this so it uses up the eye pencil faster but it seems to keep it even and precise so I keep doing it.

  • This concealer. I think of it as getting down to business when the crinkles around the eyes appear.

  • I got a facial at Monastery with this product and it was so relaxing and decadent. Decadent and glowy.

In My Feed

• RORY SATRAN wrote the best overview about the Free City sweats resurgence. NY Times (gift link) “Why Are These Retro Sweatpants All Over the Hamptons?” And if you are looking for more Hamptons scene notes subscribe to Rory Satran’s The Hamptons Chronicle.

• Rukmini Callimachi wrote about the vanity and our connection to it for the NY times (gift link). Growing up I had this vanity until I was in middle school and then had a proper one built into the area next to my sink. It was the best! My daughter has transformed her bedroom desk we bought for zoom school during the pandemic into her vanity and does her homework from the kitchen table or on her bedroom floor. I’m putting a Luigi Massoni Dilly Dally vanity on my dream wish list.

• Dairy Boy Sport and Paige Paul are setting up for the U.S. Open later this month in NYC. If the Nantucket lines are any indication start camping out now if you want to shop the pop-up.

• Did you see Angela Galvez purple post? Purple has really been popping up everywhere. Party pants and a suede orchid dress.

• I loved the movie Practical Magic and can’t wait to see Practical Magic 2. I’m obsessed with how Viv Chen compared the original costumes to the new ones. Seeing the brands selected then vs now is so interesting. The brands seem so right for this movie — Rixo, Rouje, Reformation.

• Top links of the week:

  • Top clicked link is an item I also bought because I’m addicted to Diet Coke. This was also the top converting link for the week.

  • I am obsessed with the fact that this was the #2 clicked link of the week and this was the #5.

  • Other top links this week: Another item I bought — my favorite handbags lately, a leather Teva from a designer brand, and the pleated wear-a-million-ways stole that was the number two item on the Lyst Top Products list thanks to TikTok how-tos. The new Wardrobe.nyc x H&M collab, and the dry shampoo I’ve been using.

Made just for you — always. See you Tuesday

xx, Sarah Shapiro

Private Label Issue 31

Catching Up:

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