Star-Studded Shopping: Celebrities Forge Their Own Paths With Standalone Brand Stores

In the dance between fame and fashion, celebrity brands are stepping into the spotlight to craft retail experiences that are as dazzling as the stars themselves.

Actors and musicians are the most popular brand owners. Fans can shop Drake's athleisure brand, October's Very Own, at 11 stores from coast to coast and in Canada, and Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop brand is available in California, New York and Hawaii.

Over the last decade, celebrity-backed retail brands opened 300,000 square feet of space in the U.S., and the number is expected to grow, according to JLL's report The Rise of Celebrity Retail: The Impact of Star Power on Real Estate.

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Beauty is the most popular celebrity brand category, but 82% of the brands that open permanent physical locations are in the apparel space. New York is the most likely location for a celebrity brand's first pop-up store, while Los Angeles is the most popular choice for a permanent physical store.

From Stardom To Startups

The swift transformation of social media has amplified fascination in the daily lives of actors, musicians, athletes and influences. Celebrities who have started retail brands account for a combined 7 billion followers on Instagram alone, according to the JLL report.

And the digital world is where the stars' brands get their start.

Nearly 60% of all celebrity retail brands were founded in the last six years, coinciding with the disruption of e-commerce in retail. E-commerce's share of retail sales grew by about 5 percentage points during the same time period, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

E-commerce brands enjoyed higher sales volume during the COVID-19 pandemic as quarantined consumers shifted to online shopping. Celebrities also were confined to their homes, which gave them free time to market and develop brands to meet new online demand.

While celebrity brands generally get started on e-commerce platforms that allow them to sell directly to their fan bases, many eventually partner with established retailers to sell their products in physical stores. When they see their products are in demand, they'll open pop-up stores in target markets before opening permanent brick-and-mortar locations.When choosing a location, celebrity brands gravitate toward malls, with 76% operating stores in shopping centers compared to other retail locations. The growth of celebrity brands could be good for mall performance, which at 9% is higher than the 4.2% overall U.S. retail vacancy, according to JLL's second-quarter U.S. Retail Outlook.

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