Online shapewear maker Skims — founded by celebrity Kim Kardashian — plans to open its first greater Los Angeles location in a former luxury watch store in a high-profile luxury retail area, signaling how the company plans to expand nationally beyond online sales.

Skims has leased the roughly 5,600-square-foot 8569 W. Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood, Sheri Lunn, the city's public information officer, confirmed to CoStar News. The retailer expects to open its first brick-and-mortar stores in early 2024 in Los Angeles and New York.

The store will be on the Sunset Strip, one of the most desirable retail stretches in Los Angeles County, near upscale clothing brands Supreme, Kith and Vuori. The 1.7-mile Sunset Strip is known for its luxury hotels, retailers and restaurants and is often frequented by celebrities and tourists. Skims' future space has yet to be occupied and was once home to retailer Westime.

"That location on the Sunset Strip is more than just a store — it’s a corner building with unique architecture and a tremendous amount of visibility on one of the most trafficked streets in the city," said Lorena Tomb, principal of Los Angeles-based retail brokerage firm Urbanlime Real Estate, who wasn't involved in the deal. "It essentially acts as a store and billboard."

The Sunset Strip makes sense for Skims to open a store as it attracts younger shoppers with disposable income, including tourists, influencers and people in the entertainment industry, according to Gabe Kadosh, a retail property broker and vice president of Colliers, who wasn't involved in the deal. Stores on the strip often generate buzz and attract crowds who wait in line to shop, which creates hype for brands. The retail properties themselves command some of the highest rents in greater Los Angeles retail real estate, and the properties are walkable, which makes them more valuable, Kadosh said.

"It's a statement piece," Kadosh said.

Neil Saunders, managing director and retail analyst of London-based GlobalData, said the Sunset Strip location shows that Skims wants to open stores in vibrant retail markets with young and up-and-coming brands nearby. Saunders said to expect Skims to seek out contemporary retail pockets in urban areas, along with newer outdoor malls, as it grows.

"They want something a bit more modern and on trend," Saunders said.

The West Hollywood Skims store is a little over 3 miles from the company's new office space that it is building out in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles at 1601 Vine St. A move-in date for the office space isn't known to CoStar News, but Skims has been issued permits to build out its space in a roughly 115,000-square-foot building.

Skims is the latest celebrity-backed brand to launch retail space in the United States, where collectively, they've opened more than 300,000 square feet in the past decade, according to real estate firm JLL. Social media use and public fascination with the stars have helped celebrities from Rihanna to Reese Witherspoon open brick-and-mortar retail shops.

However, not all celebrity-backed ventures have found success. Reality TV star Kyle Richards has closed stores, and Kardashian and her sisters shuttered their Dash apparel-and-accessory stores in New York, Miami and Los Angeles.

The shapewear market is estimated to grow to more than $6 billion globally by 2032, according to Future Market Insights. The market has numerous competitors beyond Skims, including Spanx, Shein and Yitty, which is backed by singer Lizzo.

A Skims representative didn't respond to an emailed request to comment from CoStar News. The lease was signed in 2022, according to CoStar data.

Newmark's Jay Luchs marketed the building for lease. Luchs didn't respond to a request to comment.

CoStar News reporter Linda Moss contributed.