Jump to content

Rodeo Drive

Coordinates: 34°4′9.23″N 118°24′10.76″W / 34.0692306°N 118.4029889°W / 34.0692306; -118.4029889
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Jbrubins (talk | contribs) at 15:33, 4 April 2014 (→‎History). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Rodeo Drive
Rodeo Drive in 2012
LocationBeverly Hills, Los Angeles, CA
North endSunset Boulevard
Major
junctions		Wilshire Boulevard, Dayton Way, Brighton Way, Santa Monica Boulevard
South endBeverwil Drive
EastNorth Beverly Drive
WestNorth Camden Drive

Rodeo Drive /roʊˈdeɪ.oʊ/ is a two mile long street, primarily in Beverly Hills, California. Its northern terminus is its intersection with Sunset Boulevard and its southern its intersection with Beverwil Drive in the city of Los Angeles. The name is most commonly used metonymically to refer to a three block stretch of the street north of Wilshire Boulevard and south of Little Santa Monica Boulevard which known for its luxury-goods stores.

[Rodeo Drive is] a giant butterscotch sundae, deliciously edible, including the nuts.—Andy Warhol[1]

History

In 1906, Burton E. Green (1868-1965) and other investors purchased the property that would become Beverly Hills, formerly named Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas, with plans for a mixed-use subdivision with a branch of the Los Angeles and Pacific Railway running North on Rodeo Drive before turning west at Sunset Boulevard.[2] By 1907, 75x160 foot parcels on Rodeo were selling for $1100 each.[3] By November 1925 similar lots were selling for between $15,000 and $30,000, almost double what they'd been selling for in September.[4]

Rodeo Drive street sign

The central part of Rodeo eventually became a business street with hardware stores, gas stations,[5] beauty shops, and bookstores. In 1958, real estate developer Marvin Kratter bought 48,000 square feet of land at the corner of Rodeo and Wilshire Boulevard from the city of Beverly Hills.[6] The acreage is across the street from the Beverly Wilshire Hotel and Kratter paid something over $2 million for it.[6]

In 1967 Fred Hayman, "the father of Rodeo Drive," opened Giorgio Beverly Hills, the street's first high-end boutique.[5] In 1968 Aldo Gucci opened a store on Rodeo, which catalyzed the process by which the street took on its present form.[7] Van Cleef & Arpels opened in 1969, followed by a Vidal Sassoon salon in 1970.

According to erstwhile co-chair of the "Rodeo Drive Committee" Richard Carroll, the transformation of Rodeo Drive into an international center of fashionable shopping was sparked in 1971 with the opening of a new wing of the Beverly Wilshire.[8] Carroll noted in 1980 that before then "There was nothing at all of an international nature on the street. Rodeo was purely local in flavor."[8] By 1978 the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce was boasting that Rodeo Drive was "the essence of the best of all the shopping centers of the world"[9] and by 1980 the city of Beverly Hills estimated that the Rodeo Drive shopping district accounted for as much as 25% of its sales tax revenues.[8] The building at 332 N. Rodeo was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.[1]

The "Rodeo Collection," a 45 store, 70,000 square foot shopping mall[10] opened in 1983[11] at 421 N. Rodeo Drive. The building is only four stories high with the first floor below street level in order to satisfy local building codes. The retail space initially leased for as much as $120 per square foot, which, according to an executive with commercial real estate firm Julien J. Studley, was "the highest price for any kind of space in the Los Angeles Area."[10]

Two Rodeo, located at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive, is the newest addition to Rodeo Drive. The outdoor shopping center was completed in 1990 and contains some of the “world’s biggest names in luxury goods.”[12] It resembles a “faux-European shopping alley” and features a cobblestone street.[13]

In 2003, Rodeo Drive was given an $18 million makeover which included widening the streets and the addition of crosswalks. The ficus trees lining the street were taken out and replaced with palm trees. In September of the same year, the business group Rodeo Drive Committee, developed the annual Rodeo Drive Walk of Style in order to advertise and transform the street into an even more salient fashion epicenter.[14] The Rodeo Drive Walk of Style, created by the city of Beverly Hills and the Rodeo Drive Association, features plaques that are set in the sidewalks along Rodeo Drive. Fashion icons are honored with the award for their work in style and fashion.[15] The “Torso” sculpture, which is also the symbol of the award and the model for the associated statuettes, is located at the intersection of Rodeo Drive and Dayton Way.[16]

The larger business district surrounding Rodeo, known as the "Golden Triangle," which extends from Wilshire Boulevard to Santa Monica Boulevard, is both a shopping district and a major tourist attraction.

Shopping

The most notable part of Rodeo Drive is the string of luxury stores and boutiques.[17][failed verification] These stores constitute the "most expensive names in international fashion."[18] Rodeo Drive started to gain notoriety in the realm of fashion in 1977, when the Rodeo Drive Committee was created. [19][dubious – discuss] They "launched a publicity campaign designed to make everyone around the world think of Rodeo Drive as the shopping street of the rich and famous."[20] Beverly Hills now represents an image of a "culturally elite lifestyle."[21][clarification needed]

Events

Every Father's day, the annual Rodeo Drive Concours d'Elegance occurs on Rodeo Drive, displaying some of the world’s most expensive automobiles. Travel publisher Frommer's named it one of the "300 Unmissable Events & Festivals Around the World."[22]

“Fashion’s Night Out” is an event that was created in 2009 in New York City in hopes of boosting the economy during the recession. Its goals were to “celebrate fashion, restore consumer confidence and boost the industry’s economy.” In 2012, 500 cities across the United States (including Los Angeles), as well as 30 cities around the world adopted the event. It is held annually in September on the same night worldwide.[23] The carnival features a 60-foot Ferris wheel on Rodeo Drive and the celebration stretches the three block distance of the street.[24]

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Rodeo Drive—It's 'a giant sundae' and some of the world's most exclusive shops". Los Angeles Times. November 25, 1977. p. J19.
  2. ^ "New Railroad and New City". Los Angeles Times. November 10, 1906. p. I12.
  3. ^ "Sales in Beverly Hills". Los Angeles Times. May 19, 1907. p. V20.
  4. ^ "Realty Values Show Increase:Beverly Hills Lots Reveal Remarkable Gains". Los Angeles Times. November 22, 1925.
  5. ^ a b Sandy Cohen (June 8, 2011). "Honors for Fred Hayman , the father of legendary Rodeo Drive". The Daily Star. p. 12. But back in 1964, when Fred Hayman started building his Giorgio Beverly Hills shop, Rodeo Drive was just a regular city street, with a grocer, a gas station and a hardware store. Hayman became its ambassador. He envisioned the street as an elegant home to the finest designers and boutiques, a magnet for starlets and socialites, like an American Champs-Elysees, a sexy, fun, camera-ready intersection of Hollywood and fashion. ... Giorgio Beverly Hills, located at 273 Rodeo Drive, boasted its own oak bar and pool table, where gentlemen could pass the time as the ladies shopped. Hayman welcomed browsers with a glass of Champagne. He personally invited celebrity contacts he met at the Hilton to experience his latest business venture, creating an air of sophistication among the clientele.
  6. ^ a b "Deal at Beverly Hills: Investor Enlarges Holdings in Coast City Realty". New York Times. February 19, 1958. p. 45.
  7. ^ Ilpo Koskinen (Spring, 2005). "Semiotic Neighborhoods". Design Issues. 21 (2): 13–27. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)(subscription required)
  8. ^ a b c Barbara Baird (June 8, 1980). "Complimentary Cappucino: Shoppers' Street of Dreams is Chic Showcase of Opulence". Los Angeles Times. p. W81.
  9. ^ Pamela G. Hollie (December 14, 1978). "Glittering Stores For Sheiks, Stars: A Great Westward Migration". New York Times. p. D1.
  10. ^ a b Ryon, Ruth (May 25, 1980). "That Glitter in Beverly Hills is Growth of Rodeo Drive". Los Angeles Times. p. I1.
  11. ^ Darling, Michael (September 9, 2013). "A Rodeo Drive timeline". Los Angeles Times.
  12. ^ Vincent, Roger (18 September 2007). "Rodeo Drive shopping center sold". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  13. ^ Rough Guides (2011). The Rough Guide to California. Penguin, 2011. p. 109. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  14. ^ Nguyen, Daisy (24 December 2003). "Rodeo Drive Gets Needed Makeover". The Augusta Chronicle. p. A13. Retrieved 1 April 2014.(subscription required)
  15. ^ Schmidt, Ingrid (5 February 2014). "Designer Catherine Martin to get Rodeo Drive Walk of Style Award". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  16. ^ Roug, Louise (4 March 2003). "Armani is first to get star on fashion 'Walk of Style'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  17. ^ "LA: Beyond Rodeo Drive". India Today Travel Plus. June 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2014. For years, shopping in Los Angeles has been synonymous with Rodeo Drive, the hip street at Beverly Hills famous for its luxury designer brands like Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, Cartier, Bally and Gucci.
  18. ^ Rough Guides (2011). The Rough Guide to California. Penguin, 2011. p. 109. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  19. ^ Kasindorf, Jeanie (19 November 1984). "Rodeo Drive: Fear of Buying". New York Magazine: 20. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  20. ^ Kasindorf, Jeanie (19 November 1984). "Rodeo Drive: Fear of Buying". New York Magazine: 20. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  21. ^ Goode, T. (1998). "Rodeo Drive: The History of a "Street of Dreams"". Journal of Architectural and Planning Research. 15 (1): 45. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  22. ^ Garon, Brenton (18 June 2010). "Concours to Honor Event Participants On Father's Day" (PDF). The Beverly Hills Courier. p. 24. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  23. ^ Hsu, Tiffany (27 February 2013). "Fashion's Night Out, designed to boost economy, goes on hiatus". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  24. ^ Yvette, Mar (7 September 2011). "Fashion's Night Out LA 2011: Where To Go For The Best Deals, Steals & Meals". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  25. ^ Grace Kingsley (January 12, 1928). "Lubitsch Directs Barrymore". Los Angeles Times. p. A9.
  26. ^ "Director Buys Beverly Hills Dwelling Site". Los Angeles Times. September 19, 1926. p. E4.
  27. ^ Myra Nye (January 23, 1927). "Society of Cinemaland". Los Angeles Times. p. C27.
  28. ^ "Actress's Auto to Be Sold: Ruth Chatterton's Coupe Attached for Lien of $121.50". New York Times. May 29, 1928. p. 11.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rodeo Drive.

34°4′9.23″N 118°24′10.76″W / 34.0692306°N 118.4029889°W / 34.0692306; -118.4029889

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rodeo_Drive&oldid=602736985"