The grail that you’ve always wanted for a price you’re actually willing to pay. A Been Trill T-shirt you yearned for in 2013 that you can’t believe you’re seeing again. A cheeky Instagram caption. That Louis Vuitton hat. A revolving door of vintage Prada America’s Cups. These are just a few things that have turned Luke’s NYC into one of the best shopping experiences in New York.
One and a half years after opening Luke’s NYC in the Lower East Side, owner Luke Fracher is expanding. On Aug. 3, Luke’s LA opens for business on Melrose Avenue.
“I always wanted to do the store in LA. I just felt like it made the most sense to do it in New York first,” says Fracher. “LA and New York, to me, are the only cities that this business really makes sense in, at least domestically.”
Fracher has experience with the West Coast. He briefly lived there to help run Round Two. He left his role with the company in November 2022. Round Two Los Angeles has since closed its doors, but during its eight-year run on Melrose, it influenced countless other resale shops. While Fracher thinks Luke’s could eventually influence new businesses in a similar way, he isn’t worried about the potential competition.
“I hope by the time the store with less witty captions and worse curation opens, that I’m in a position where people realize that there’s still a reason to come shop with me because they know I’ll be honest with them, try to give them the best prices, and hopefully give them the best experience,” says Fracher.
Ahead of the grand opening of Luke’s LA, we spoke to Fracher about his new store, what sells best at his shop in New York City, the beauty of the Prada America’s Cup, and more.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Why did it feel like the right time for a second shop in LA?
The New York spot kind of just fell into my lap. It was very serendipitous and I felt that I had a bigger base of support in New York, but I always wanted to do the store in LA. It made the most sense to do it in New York first. My girl’s been in LA the entire time, so it’s been hard being away from her, hard being away from LA. It’s been very vindicating knowing that that was the right move.
With [Round Two], LA was where we really found our footing and our audience. We found our place in the world. I love Melrose. I love LA. I’m super happy to be back.
And the New York store is definitely staying open?
Yeah. People keep asking me that. That’s not how business fucking works. [Laughs.] Lord willing, those stores will stay operational. That’s what I want to happen.
Why Melrose? Can you talk a bit about the location that you settled on?
Melrose is where we did Round Two back in the day. I felt like we revitalized Melrose, or changed Melrose. We made it more resale-oriented, for better or for worse. To me, Melrose is the best retail street in LA. I’m not running a Kering flagship. I’m running a small boutique. Melrose and how central it is, how many people go through it every day, it made a ton of sense.
We’re really lucky with the block that we chose this time because we have Community Goods across the street. I think the Ye office that everyone says is going to open but never does is down the block. Reformation is there. There’s a lot of things on that block that I think give synergy even if people don’t realize it. And the part of Melrose I’m on now, which is west of Fairfax, is a bit quieter. So I’m excited to hopefully bring some life to that area.
How have you curated the LA space for opening weekend?
Man, you’re going to hate this answer, but it’s mostly shit that was in the basement or back stock. I believe so strongly in the product that we have sitting around in the NY store that I sent a bunch of that out [to LA] and filled the store up. I just think that our curation is that well-done. We can fill a store up 90% of the way with our old product and it’s still going to be the best store in whatever city. That being said, obviously I’ve been buying shit nonstop that I think is important to have at the store and will hopefully sell well. I have most of the shit priced at steals or under what I would’ve sold it for normally. I want people to come in and be able to get something that maybe they thought they couldn’t afford.
Is there something specific that you think a lot of people will be after?
The Virgil LV Burning House hat. Those Error Vetements hats. Those are items that I put at the front and center of the store in NY when we opened. Those were things that drew people to us. I’m going back through my playbook from the past year and a half and trying to give people access to what they really responded to.
Were you hesitant at all to pursue an LA store?
No. I’ve asked myself, What’s the difference as far as my curation in New York versus LA? The answer is I don’t know yet, in the same way that I didn’t really know what was going to do well in New York when I first opened. At the end of the day, I don’t think the consumers are that much different. Obviously, New York is the epicenter of everything, center of the universe, best dressed city in the world. I stand by that, but I don’t think LA is that far behind.
This is an e-comm company to me. The physical spaces are there for intake and to show off our curation and give me an ability to interact with the customers and build relationships with them. But I think the type of stuff that sells is going to sell online regardless of if I have a store in LA, New York, or Omaha.
I’m sure you’ve seen some of the regional style debates on the internet this week. I feel like whenever those things come up, people are always so quick to discredit other cities.
There are people who dress well and have great style in every city. There are people who care too much in every city. There are people who care just enough in every city. But it’s not hyper regional. It used to be. People dress the same in every city now because of social media. The internet has made fashion more homogenous. You can argue about influence and who is influenced by who, but as far as what city dresses the best or doesn’t, obviously it’s New York, but besides that I think everywhere is in second place because people dress the same everywhere because of the internet.
What is the most surprising designer or item that you see people constantly asking about, or that flies out of the New York store as soon as you post it?
I was stocking Hood By Air from the day we opened because I remember wearing it and I thought it was funny—and important—to have in the store. When Carti wore it, it became the best-selling brand for three months. That was surprising to me, but once you realize what moves the needle for people and what influences them, it’s not that surprising. Once I sit back and think about it, it’s not surprising to see Pyrex shorts or stuff like that sell so fast. I was excited when they came into the store, so of course the customer’s going to be excited because we both understand the relevance of this item.
You mentioned Carti. Are those types of celeb co-signs still big drivers for the brands that people are shopping for at your store?
I think for a lot of people that’s still a big part of what moves the needle for them. Having cool celebrities they look up to wearing things helps them envision themselves in it. Some of this stuff is very fashion-forward and has very interesting cuts that are different from what most people are used to. If you get this crazy pair of Rick [Owens] pants that you think are cool and may be difficult to wear, but then you see someone like Travis wearing it, you’re like, “Oh, I could just style it with a vintage tee.” It makes these things that look a bit intimidating on a mannequin more approachable.
What are some of your biggest selling items?
[Rick Owens and Balenciaga] are some of the best sellers for me. I think it’s more so individual items from a lot of different brands that have hype around them. LV graffiti jeans from the Virgil era always sell super fast. The Kapital bone shorts, which for forever were a $250 item, are now worth a grand. It’s stuff that I think has gotten idolized by the internet.
Are you still buying a lot for yourself?
At a certain point it’s like, “I don’t need any of this stuff.” Most of the stuff that I want for myself is stuff that I know would sell well for the store, so I usually just give it to the store. That being said, I don’t really shop outside of the store unless it’s for shoes or accessories. That LV hat that I wear everyday came from the store.
What’s the craziest item that’s come through the shop?
It’s stuff that’s not really crazy to a lot of people, but I’m like, “This person kept the Hood By Air x Been Trill tee deadstock. This is crazy.” That’s the type of stuff that’s crazy to me. It isn’t necessarily extremely valuable. It’s the type of stuff that makes me take a step back and realize that every single item that I think is cool or rare or important is in somebody’s closet in the New York metropolitan area. It’s just a matter of, am I ever going to have access to that item?
Why do you love the America’s Cup so much? Do you feel responsible at all for the wave that shoe currently has?
I love them just because they’ve been an important shoe to me and people my age for the better part of two decades. It’s a shoe that I was really never able to afford when I was a kid.
I’m happy to take all the credit in the world for them being relevant again, but I don’t think it would be fair to the people who have been selling them before me, whether it’s Procell or 194 Local, or whoever else. But I definitely did push them and help. I think I’m in an interesting place that’s between super trendy downtown New York and the rest of the world. I have the ability to bridge that gap and bring what’s going on trend-wise downtown to the rest of the world. I think I did that with the Cups.
Part of the store’s allure has been your trend reports, your cheeky captions on Instagram, and now the podcast. You say how you’re chronically online, but did you ever expect that to be such a relevant piece of your business?
No, not really. It’s one of those things where I am always online related to the business anyway, whether it’s looking up prices, answering DMs to the store, or checking what sells. So, the social media, customer-facing side of that was a natural transition. I didn’t open this store thinking I’m going to fucking write 12 captions a day that people are going to come back and quote to me when I’m at the grocery store. But I just did it because we were slow when we first opened and I was fucking bored in the store. We didn’t have any traffic and then people responded really well to it.
It just feels very relatable. It’s not just you always pushing your product as the best thing ever. Sometimes you pretty blatantly say that an item isn’t even really for you.
I don’t think it’s fair to my audience to not be candid with them about how I feel about it. Basically, every other reseller who uses Instagram as a driver for what they’re doing is just remixing Round Two juice that we invented nine and a half years ago. There’s no originality to it. They’re just trying to jam consumerism and products down your fucking throat. That’s not an ideal shopping experience for me.
You’re not the only shop in the world that’s curating luxury fashion right now, but do you think that there will be a point where others are going to try and steal the sauce of how you’re operating Luke’s?
It’s inevitable, which is also a part of why I wanted to do LA as quickly as we did. Being first to market is important and building the relationships with my clientele like I’ve been doing in New York is just as important in LA. I hope that by the time the store with less witty captions and worse curation opens that I’m in a position where people realize there’s still a reason to come shop with me because they know I’ll be honest with them, try to give them the best prices, and hopefully give them the best experience.
What are your general thoughts on brick-and-mortar retail? It feels really strong in New York in particular right now.
I’m 35 now. I started working retail when I was 15. I’ve worked retail pretty much nonstop the entire time. I’m extremely bullish on brick-and-mortar. I think most online is very impersonal and difficult to do. That’s why we try to do the best job we can with our e-comm. At the same time, multi-brand retail is harder than ever. Certain stores in New York that have opened up in the past year and a half have beautiful build outs, amazing staff, great product, but by the time the stuff gets delivered to a multi-brand in New York or Chicago or LA, the stuff is on sale on SSENSE. It’s very difficult to make that business model work. I don’t envy them for that. I think people like me, who curate secondhand, are at an advantage because we’re not at the mercy of seasonality, sales cycles, that type of stuff.
You’ve attempted a brand before. Now that the store has a bit more notoriety, do you see yourself ever expanding into designing more Luke’s apparel or doing collabs with friends of the brand?
I would love to do collabs with my friends who are actually talented designers. I am not a talented designer and I don’t know what I’m doing. I think the amount of that Midori shit that I sold speaks to that. That being said, as far as clothing or whatever for the store, I think the world has enough merch in it. Five millennia from now when they’re digging up the ruins of an ancient city, I don’t want them pulling a tattered Luke’s jacket out and being like, “What the fuck is this?” I just don’t think that the world needs merch from every single store. I think I need to be the first person to take a stand on that.
Any other plans for the future of Luke’s?
I don’t know if we’re going to do any other actual physical stores. I don’t want to run another eight-store retail chain. I’ve been there and it’s very stressful. I think pop-ups in other cities, other countries, and other continents is what I would like to do.
Read the full article here
