ShopEatSleep

Solair buildling in Koreatown. From lacurbed (Flickr).

This is a little late – my apologies – but the new mixed-use Solair building at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue in Ktown will be home to more than a few retailers, including Aveda, Edible Arrangements, Shabu-Ya, Haagen–Dazs, Aroma Cafe, noodle restaurant Yogi, and Korean-American fusion restaurant Ki Young Lee, among others. The stores are slated to open in the next couple of months. As for the condos at Solair, prices range from $800,000 to $2.8 million. Really, in Ktown? More at RackedLA.

Another runway show has thrown its hat into the L.A. Fashion Week ring: Rock Fashion Week, slated to take place right after Market Week in October. A New York-based company, Rock Media and Entertainment, is producing the event to take place at Paramount Studios. More at RackedLA.

From SteveMcN (Flickr).

Here’s a partial list of upcoming Nordstrom Rack stores (full list at Nordstrom’s Web site):

• Los Angeles, CA – Beverly Connection – Opening Date: September 24, 2009

• Pasadena, CA – Hastings Village – Opening Date: October 8, 2009

• San Jose, CA – Westfield Oakridge – Opening Date: October 15, 2009

• Lakewood, CA – Lakewood Center – Opening Date: Fall 2010

Apparently Fashion Island in Newport Beach is getting a regular Nordstrom store (opening date: April 16, 2010), as is Santa Monica Place, whose re-opening date has yet again been pushed back (to Aug. 27, 2010). More on that at RackedLA.

Empty Stores on West Third Street. Photo from WWD.

Women’s Wear Daily has a story on the increasing number of boutique and specialty retail store closings around Los Angeles, with Robertson Boulevard, Melrose Place, Montana Avenue and West Third Street taking the hardest hits. I covered this for the LA Business Journal back in March when more than 30 storefronts were either empty or in the process of closing up shop. Other parts of the city have been affected as well, including Venice’s Abbot Kinney Boulevard, and a drive down Pico Boulevard between Robertson and La Cienega boulevards yesterday revealed some new empty retail spaces that I hadn’t noticed before.

But not all parts of the city are losing places to shop: Malibu Lumber Yard, the new swanky retail center next to the Malibu Country Mart, just opened last weekend. Good idea or bad idea? Time will tell, but in the meantime, head over to the Lumber Yard for free Crumbs cupcakes on Saturday (April 25). They’re giving out 1,000 freebies starting at 9:00 a.m., per EaterLA.

• More coverage at RackedLA