Aritzia Buys Fred Segal in Bid to Revive Famed Retailer

By Rob Bates | February 23, 2026

Canadian apparel chain Aritzia has purchased iconic California retailer Fred Segal for an undisclosed sum.

As part of the deal, Aritzia has purchased the lease for Segal’s original flagship location at 8100 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles.

A statement said that Vancouver-based Aritzia will restore the “Melrose location, including revitalizing the facade’s historic ivy that was damaged during a recent storm. Over the coming years, the site will evolve into an entirely new, experiential destination [that] will bring together curated product and immersive experiences.”

Retail commentators such as Rich Honiball, a former executive of J.C. Penney and Brooks Brothers, expressed hope that Aritzia can revive the dormant brand.

“Fred Segal was never about scale.” he wrote on his “Threads and Reflections” Substack. “It was about format.

“The original Melrose campus felt organic, almost improvised. Independent operators within a larger ecosystem. Denim displayed as aspiration rather than commodity. An experiential layout long before ‘retailtainment’ became industry shorthand.… Aritzia understands format.”

The Fred Segal brand has a storied history. A Chicago-born former shoe salesman, Segal opened his first store in 1961, originally to sell jeans.

“Instead of $4 a pair, [Segal] charged $20,” wrote Air Mail in a store profile. “This counterintuitive merchandising started a craze, and soon everyone wanted expensive jeans. Creating a store within a store, Fred Segal made shopping feel like an adventure.”

Cultivating an image of laid-back California cool, the store became a magnet for celebrities and an important incubator of young design talent. “One of L.A.’s defining stores for decades, [Fred Segal] has a long history of collaborations with fashion, jewelry, and accessories brands,” wrote Emili Vesilind in JCK.

But in recent years, a revolving door of owners sullied its image.

Sandow Media, best known as magazine publisher, acquired Fred Segal’s intellectual property in 2012, intending to expand the brand overseas. In 2014, Evolution Media Partners—an investment vehicle that included the Creative Artists Agency—joined with Sandow to fund an ambitious new venture to open Segal-branded lifestyle centers throughout the United States. The new team hired former David Yurman CEO Paul Blum to run the company. (Blum left two years later.)

In 2019, Sandow sold the brand to licensing agency Global Icons, though Evolution retained a minority share. Jeff Lotman, CEO of Global Icons, later told the Los Angeles Times he didn‘t want to run the stores, since he “knew nothing about retail,” but was forced to do so during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Segal died in 2021. By mid-2024, the company decided to close its two remaining stores, both in California, and the name reverted back to Segal’s family. It’s not clear if any family members will be involved in this attempt to revive the brand.

(Photo courtesy of Aritzia)