Shortly before Porsche Motorsport North America left Orange County for Carson in 2016, another brand-inspired outfit moved in—Porsche Design.
The Costa Mesa-based retailer picked South Coast Plaza as home to its first store back in 1988 but kept its headquarters in Ontario, where Wolfsburg, Germany-based parent Volkswagen AG has a warehouse. The Inland Empire, however, didn’t work out for the offices in the long haul, and the headquarters shifted to OC.
“As Porsche Design was growing, we decided a more modern, convenient location made sense,” Chief Operating Officer Karsten Von Engeln said via email. “This office is not only close to the Costa Mesa store, but also the Porsche Experience Center Los Angeles, as well as driving distance to our Beverly Hills location.”
Porsche Design, founded in 1972, develops and sells Porsche-branded watches, eyewear, luggage, men’s apparel, home accessories and electronics, often in collaboration with other well-known companies, including Microsoft, Adidas and Huawei. It was the brainchild of Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, who designed the iconic Porsche 911—the millionth 911 rolled off the production line in May. His vision was to build a company able to transport the “spirit of Porsche” into new areas of life, taking it beyond the world of the automobile, according to Von Engeln.
The OC office, the North American arm of Porsche Design, employs about 15 people who tackle public relations, marketing, retail, e-commerce, design and operations. Porsche Design was acquired in April by Porsche AG, the Stuttgart-based manufacturer of high-performance sports cars that already held a 65% stake in the retailer.
“Porsche is such an amazing company with a rich heritage and a global following,” Von Engeln said. “We’ve been fortunate enough to tap into this recognition, and harness their plentiful resources.”
The deal led to a collaboration on a new store concept that combines “the worlds of luxury retail and the finest sports cars.”
The automaker picked South Coast Plaza as the proving ground for the idea, moving its existing store to a larger, more prominent location at the shopping center in November. A Porsche is now on display along with Porsche Design merchandise, while a 16-by-9-foot, high-definition video wall displays content about Porsche motorsports and the brand’s new vehicle models.
“We’ve created an additional unique setting to engage customers where they are, and to maybe create an appetite for our sports cars,” the president and chief executive of Atlanta-based Porsche Cars North America, Klaus Zellmer, said in a statement. “The Costa Mesa location perfectly complements our strong dealer network in Southern California.”
And while a $100,000 vehicle may be well beyond the reach of most people passing by the store, there’s a Porsche-inspired shisha—think hookah lounge—offered at $1,950 and a 911 Soundbar reminiscent of an exhaust pipe and with a $3,500 price tag. No cars are sold or demonstrated at the store, but the collaboration may boost traffic at local Porsche dealers.
“Our sales associates have undergone intense product training and have in-depth knowledge on both the latest Porsche Design products, as well as the displayed Porsche cars,” Von Engeln said. “As a result, we anticipate Porsche Cars North America, our partner in this particular store, will also benefit.”
A similar concept is planned for a store in Milan, Italy, one of 16 retail locations the brand operates. It also sells its merchandise at about 150 multibrand stores.
Porsche Design, aside from merchandise, has dabbled in real estate. It partnered last year with Florida-based Dezer Development on Porsche Design Tower Miami. The 60-story residential building, with an estimated unit sales revenue of about $840 million, “reflects the brand’s hallmarks of functional design, technical innovation, forward-thinking and iconic style,” the company said. It features “a patented, revolutionary automobile elevator lift system … that whisks both residents and their vehicles up to their luxurious home in the sky.”
Von Engeln said, “This project really established Porsche Design as a lifestyle brand delivering a true 360-degree approach to our offerings, “adding that there’s “another exciting real estate project in the works, as well as great innovations in both the timepiece and electronics categories.”
