In Beverly Hills, Calif., that capital of conspicuous consumption, Rodeo Drive rather suddenly has become one of the world's premier shopping streets. Ever since Gucci set up an outpost several years ago, tony merchants have been rushing to Rodeo, until now there is no place left. If all that glitters on Rodeo is not gold, it is most certainly platinum, silver or the chrome plating on the bumpers of a typical shopper's Rolls-Royce. Los Angeles Bureau Chief William Rademaekers strolled down the drive and returned with this report:
Outwardly, Rodeo Drive (pronounced Road-eh-oh) looks like any other shopping street in the fertile crescent of Beverly Hills. The buildings tend to be one-and two-story structures, pastel, neo-Spanish, neo-20th Century-Fox. Even the ficus trees lining the street seem to be part of a grand design by Potemkin. Still, the veteran spendthrift arriving on Rodeo Drive has a sense of déjà vu. No, the street does not possess the discreet elegance of Paris' Rue du Faubourg-St.-Honoré, the stylishness of Rome's Via Condotti or the hustling excitement of Manhattan's Fifth Avenue. But the very rich find most of the store names cozy and familiar: Courrèges, Fred Joaillier, Gucci, Hermes. Bally, Céline, Ted Lapidus, Bilari, Nazareno Gabrielli, Battaglia, Mille Chemises, Omega, Saint-Germain, Pierre Deux and Lothars of Paris. Others are of questionable vintage: Giorgio, Mr. Guy, even a Jerry Magnin store that has the temerity to put sale soccer shoes in its window. In all, 60 stores along 2½ blocks of Rodeo Drive rang up sales of $200 million last year.
In a neighborhood where spending vast sums quickly is a habit of nobility, the Saudis and Iranians are truly princes, if not kings. There is the story about the two Saudi princesses who, with their bodyguard, arrived late one Friday demanding to get in touch with the Bank of America, though the bank was closed. Soon, however, the bank delivered, in a special car, an envelope containing $200,000—shopping money for Saturday. Another Saudi princess recently walked into Giorgio, picked up $30,000 worth of dresses in a couple of hours, then with a flourish gave the owner's wife a gold and diamond pavé bracelet for waiting on her.
Iranians come and go on Rodeo, lavishing hundreds of thousands of petrodollars. They also see the street as a handsome investment area. Bijan Pakzad opened the store of his dreams on Rodeo Drive, a men's store so exclusive (or merely overpriced) that, says he, "the only proper customer is the man who earns $100,000 a month." He and his partner, another Iranian, Daryoush Mahboubi-Fardi, adorned their store with a $400,000 brass and glass staircase, a $75,000 crystal chandelier and a gaggle of other niceties totaling $ 1 million.
Says Pakzad, with the modesty of a shah: "If somebody needs something, he doesn't belong here. If a man comes in and asks for a size 16½ white shirt, he doesn't belong. But if a man comes in and says, 'I'm throwing out 24 white shirts and I'd like to replace them,' then that's my customer."