Just when you thought your days of browsing a big-box national book retailer store were as numbered thanks to the demise of Borders and the fading of Barnes & Noble comes word e-tailer giant Amazon is prepping to launch a physical store. more ›

A fire in a South L.A. furniture store destroyed nearly 70 percent of the business' inventory, reports NBC Los Angeles. The store, C and L Furniture, is located at 6245 S. Manhattan Place. more ›

L.A. is a forward city, except when it comes to fashion. Retracing styles and trends from past eras, fashionistas pull and combine select pieces and make them work. Luckily, our urban sprawl offers some of the finest in flea markets and vintage boutiques. more ›

Dr. Blue Jeanns in Sherman Oaks needed some professional help of its own on Monday after a driver's sandal "became caught up in the accelerator," causing a red Jaguar to crash through the front of the closed denim repair shop just after 4:30 p.m., said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey, according to the Daily News. more ›

A pair of masked and armed burglars tunneled their way into a Downtown L.A. jewelry store and made off with an estimated over $3 million in merchandise, say the LAPD. The heist took place between 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on February 19th at a store located on the the 600 block of South Broadway. more ›

There will soon be two new ways to get yourself a scoop or two of the delicious artisanal ice cream made by Carmela. The small local company is poised to open a storefront in Pasadena, and are launching a cool retro ice cream truck. more ›

Despite the "recession blues" that prompted UK-based grocer Tesco to shutter 13 of its Southwestern U.S. Fresh & Easy stores earlier this month, the El Segundo-based chain has announced plans to open 10 new Southern California stores in the first quarter of 2011. more ›

At the "Starbucks of the future," things could be less "Tommorowland" and more old-school cafe. The multi-national chain has just opened a prototype location in its base city Seattle that could change the face of your neighborhood 'bucks in the coming years, according to USA Today. more ›

It probably won't come us a surprise to many that Blockbuster, once the market leader in home video rentals, is preparing to file for bankruptcy. "Executives from Blockbuster and its senior debt holders last week held meetings with the six major movie studios to discuss their intention to enter a 'pre-planned' bankruptcy in mid-September, said several people familiar with the situation who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of ongoing talks," reports the LA Times. more ›

Business owners in Studio City are finding out the hard way that their storefront signage could bring down the image of the neighborhood. more ›

In promotion of his latest album, Jack White is opening a temporary record store on Main Street in downtown Los Angeles tomorrow through Friday. Third Man Records and Novelties, which last popped up in New York City (and has a permanent space in Nashville), will feature all things Jack White from the White Stripes, Raconteurs and The Dead Weather, which just released the album, Horehound. more ›

The folks at DineLA take us on a quick look at the close-to-home vibe of Locali, the convenience store in Franklin Village that emphasizes consumer consciousness, locally-sourced products and ingredients, the spirit of community and environmentalism. Soon after they opened in January we were happy to report they carry vegan condoms, and with the mobile food trend and summer temps on the rise, we're even more happy they've put their unique frozen treats-mobile, the Icycle, on the street. more ›

Once upon a time, Angelenos flocked to 8000 W Sunset Blvd to buy CDs at the Virgin Megastore's US flagship. But since no one seems to buy actual discs anymore, the Virgin Megastore fell prey to economic hard times, and, following on the heels of iconic Sunset Strip music retailer Tower Records, closed up shop for good over a year ago. more ›

Tomorrow, Famima is opening a new store at 700 Wilshire. Next week, another is expected to open at the Roosevelt Building and by the end of May, one more at Union Station. When all is said and done, downtown will have seven Famimas. And beyond that, the company hopes to open 20 in the region by the end of 2009 including ones in West LA and another in Pasadena (however, none are planned for the Valley, sad). The new resurgence of hyper-local convenience stores is a good sign for downtown's growth (not to mention the "upscale" 7-11 that is on it's way), but it comes with unfortunate news: the family owned Bloom's convenience store in the Arts District closed its doors last week after 15 years. Also: Hollywood recently gained an eco-conscious convenience store, called Locali. You can buy vegan condoms there. more ›

Sunset Boulevard is home today to another sad story: Glenn Goldman, the owner of the 33-year-old bookstore Book Soup, died yesterday, just one day after he put the cherished shop up for sale. more ›

Japanese import convenience store Famima!! seems to have Downtown locked down. They currently have 5 locations in the area, and are prepping to open a sixth come February, but in an urban-center-Starbucks-esque move, they are opening it on the same block as another one. According to angelenic, "Downtown's newest Famima!! will be on the corner of 7th and Flower in the Roosevelt Lofts." Talk about convenient: "You won't even have to cross a street to swing by from the new Wilshire/Hope branch." Sadly, in other parts of LA County, Famima!! isn't doing as well. The Glendale location was shuttered in March following lackluster sales, as did two in Long Beach, and the one in Torrance in May. more ›

Electronics retailer Circuit City announced recently that they were going to close 155 stores nationally in efforts to curtail their financial woes. According to a November 3 press release, "the stores identified for closure are located in 55 U.S. media markets, of which Circuit City will exit 12 U.S. media markets." Although not exiting California, they are planning on closing 24 stores in the state, including ones locally in Industry, Compton, Foothill Ranch, Thousand Oaks, Riverside, North Fontana, Pomona, Santa Maria, and Santa Barbara. more ›

The text of this video may be slightly over the top, but it brings up some great questions. Why were 37 cyclists detained last Saturday night after a manager at the CVS on Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks allegedly called about a cyclist looking fellow shoplifting, but with little description other than that. When police arrived, they detained and searched people of all ages, race, height and gender. more ›

The Los Angeles Fire Department is reporting flooding at Macy's Department Store at the Westfield Topanga shopping mall in Woodland Hills. They are unsure if it is earthquake related or not: "3rd floor of Macy's dept store; EQ related?; No injury; No formal evac; NFD (No Further Details)," wrote LAFD Spokesman Brian Humphrey in an e-mail alert. more ›

In the earlier days of the frozen yogurt craze, Yogurtland sprung up in Fullerton in February 2006. It was a success and so more stores opened in Hollywood, Long Beach, Little Tokyo, Sherman Oaks and many other Southern California locations and one in Cupertino up north. They even opened a location in Greenwich Village in New York City with plans for Vegas, Hawaii and Texas. more ›

Fresh & Easy opened its 62nd US "neighborhood market" this morning in Manhattan Beach which began with a press conference and store tours and a ribbon cutting ceremony before the waiting crowds descended upon the grocery store to fill their carts. (More story after the jump!) more ›

more ›

Bettina Korek and her For Your Art crew did it again -- another fantastic art opening slammed with people. Actually, they have been sizzlin' hot all weekend with the first LA Art Weekend (with more events today), which has highlighted some of the city's newest gallery spaces including last night's opening of Royal/T, the nation's first Japanese "Maid Cafe," and the pop up Storefront for Architecture and Art on Friday. Royal/T is a shop, an art space and a cafe all in one. Tea service will begin sometime soon, but in the meantime, enjoy the photos below. more ›

Offering low-cost clothing to slim-hipped wastrels isn't easy, and Swedish clothing chain H&M strives to stay on the cutting-edge of cutting costs. Competing in a cutthroat global marketplace, the company has found that budgetary consciousness doesn't only apply to the factory floor, it can extend to the highest reaches of the corporate machine thanks to the advances of the computer age. To that end H&M is the first major retailer to deploy the PR-Bot... more ›

Lines stretched around the block. Helicopters buzzed overhead. It was madness today at the grand opening of the Pasadena H&M, the first H&M retail outlet in Southern California. Tucked between the Tiffany and Apple stores on Colorado Boulevard, the warehouse-like space showcases on two floors H&M's womenswear line. Sorry gents, ladies only. You'll have to wait until the Oct. 26 opening of the Beverly Center H&M. Half an hour before the official noon opening... more ›