Last night I had the opportunity to check out the opening of the new Monocle shop in Brentwood. As many of you previously read, I wasn’t so thrilled with their choice of location, seeing as how Brentwood is somewhat on the outskirts of the city.

I arrived around 6 PM and the place was already bustling, elegant looking people walking around, champagne glasses in hand, talking and having a wonderful time. The shop itself was quite modest, it couldn’t be more than 100 sq. ft., but was filled with all kinds of Monocle goodies. The space looked a bit like a study in a modern home, very warm and inviting and smelled woodsy. Overall, it’s a darling little space, tucked into a charming walk through market that features a candy shop and a James Perse store, among others.

Talking to Tyler Brule, he was quite open with the fact that the shop isn’t trying to be hip or cool, “as Monocle already is”, he said, but that it’s meant to introduce the magazine to people who don’t know about it. The other reason is that the Brentwood area is a more affluent neighborhood, willing to spend money on higher end products like their Porter bags or $85 candles. I had imagined that this was part of the reason why it was put there, and was rather satisfied with his candidness about it. It’s merely, business.

Tyler was a very gracious host as well, introducing himself to everyone and even saying goodnight to us as we left, and his staff was extremely nice as well. A couple of them knew me as basically “the guy who thought Monocle was dumb for opening a store in Brentwood”, but they were quite funny about it and realized I didn’t mean any harm in it.

I also got to hang out with Jean Aw from NOTCOT, Ryan Willms from h(y)r collective, Tasha Nita Adams from Blackburn and Sweetzer, and Julie Rasmussen and Kemp Powers from LAist. It’s always fun to run into fellow bloggers, especially when you get champagne for dinner.

If you happen to be near Brentwood, definitely take a pop over to the store, I highly recommend it.

Bobby

P.S. I stole the top image from Ryan at h(y)r collective, thanks Ryan! Here’s his post of the event as well.