Frederick's of Hollywood Closes Retail Stores, Focuses on Web

PHOTO: Frederick’s of Hollywood at Concord’s Sun Valley Mall image via Yelp.

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By BEA KARNES (Patch Staff)

Frederick’s of Hollywood founder Frederick Mellinger famously said “sex never goes out of fashion,” but his retail stores have. The company has closed all of its brick-and-mortar stores, focusing instead on web sales.

Mellinger moved his store from New York to Los Angeles in 1947 and changed the name to Frederick’s of Hollywood. It thrived, and branched into mail order sales via ubiquitous ads.

Retail expert Ron Friedman told the Los Angeles Times that the company can succeed online, “An online business is nothing more than another retail store without fixed rent,” he said. “They have to really focus and hire people that really understand the online business.”

Frederick’s has been owned by a consortium since 2013. In 2014, it operated 94 stores, including one at Sun Valley Mall in Concord.