Courtesy of Billy Reid
Billy Reid
Fashion designer Billy Reid, whose modern classics are wardrobe staples for debonair A-listers like Daniel Craig, Idris Elba and Ryan Gosling, plans to open just one brick-and-mortar store this year, and it’s going to be in Edina, Minn.
Mall of America and Galleria have tried to lure the brand in the past, but ultimately, Nolan Mains, the new 50th & France mixed use development, convinced Billy Reid to set up shop in Minnesota. “We do better in freestanding/street-side stores,” Reid says. “We’re very much a community-based type store. You’ve got to know your neighborhood, be good to your neighborhood. This new development seems to line up really well.”
Talks began pre-pandemic, when Nolan Mains was going after big-name brands that would drive traffic to the new storefronts on the backside of 50th Street. Soul Cycle, first to sign on, has yet to open. Basecamp Fitness recently made its debut, but Nolan Mains has found its footing with local retailers, including Stranger & Co., Six for Good, Dugo, Flirt, and Scout. Home décor brand Brooke & Lou launched a six-month pop-up at Nolan Mains last week. Local ice cream brand Sweet Science will soon join the mix. When it opens in May, Billy Reid will be the first national apparel brand to join Nolan Mains.
“If you look at Grethen House, Evereve, Anthropologie, the sales volume at 50th & France supports this being a premier destination,” says Peter Deanovic, principal of Buhl Investors, which leases the retail portion of Nolan Mains. “We’re looking for nationals that are new to the Twin Cities—someone who helps the locals and creates that sense of discovery.”
Billy Reid, which also makes women’s apparel, is currently sold at MartinPatrick 3 in the North Loop. “The Twin Cities was on our radar—we knew we had a good customer base in that area,” Reid says.
Edina marks the fifteenth U.S. location for Billy Reid, which also has stores in Chicago, New York, and Washington D.C. Based in Florence, Alabama, Billy Reid’s biggest concentration of storefronts is in the south.
Reid moved to his wife’s Alabama hometown to regroup when his former fashion brand, William Reid (a fan favorite in the late ‘90s at exclusive Uptown boutique Intoto) folded in the tumultuous months after the 9/11 attacks. Slowly and steadily, he rebuilt, and the first Billy Reid store opened in New York the very day the stock market crashed in 2008.
Experience with calamities equipped Reid to ride out the pandemic. “I tried my best to keep in mind that this is going to pass, things are going to rebound,” Reid says. “My mantra to the team has been: if we can be strong and do some great things during this period, we’ll come out even stronger. We have huge opportunity in front of us.”
Like most fashion brands, Billy Reid’s online sales spiked while people were stuck at home due to COVID-19. Reid notes that new customers make up the largest percentage of that increased traffic.
But brick-and-mortar stores remain foundational for the brand. “We depend on our stores, that interaction,” Reid says. “We try to create an almost residential feel in the shop—a place where customers want to hang out. There’s a hospitality element to it. We want to entertain.” That desire to make customers feel at home can be traced back to Reid’s childhood in Louisiana, growing up at his mother’s boutique, which was located inside his grandmother’s home. “So you were literally walking into a home when you came to shop!” Reid says. “People would come in every day, just to hang out. That’s the vibe we want to create in our own way. The stores look a lot like my house.”
For the Edina store, Billy Reid tapped Minneapolis design firm Studio BV. The boutique will feature floor-to-ceiling library cabinets, a built-in hospitality area, leather seating by Moore & Giles, vintage apothecary cabinets, midcentury chandeliers and walls clad in reclaimed oak.
Billy Reid’s spring 2021 collection—concepted pre-pandemic—takes inspiration from the designer’s California days: soft colors of the sea; laid-back luxury that is typical of Los Angeles and suggestive of brighter days ahead. Staples include wrap dresses, knit jackets, linen crewnecks and cotton cashmere tees. With prices starting around $160, Billy Reid pieces are designed for longevity, not seasonal trends.
“I’ve lived on the west coast, I’ve lived in New York, I live in the south. It’s opened my eyes to the whole country,” Reid says. “Fashion is not regional anymore. There’s too much information out there—people see things from all over the world. People know what’s up. We just need to make clothes that we want to wear, and cross our fingers that folks like it—wherever they are.”
Billy Reid opens May 13 at 3935 Market St., Edina. Store hours will be Tuesday-Sunday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
