Page 44 - Forbes Magazine-October 31, 2018

CALIFORNIA

DREAMER

With American malls on life support, Los Angeles real
estate billionaire Rick Caruso is thriving as the Walt
Disney of shopping. Now the developer behind The
Grove and other retail wonderlands is doubling down
on his successful model by continuing to embrace the
past—while learning the lessons of e-commerce.

BY SAMANTHA SHARF

o understand The Grove, the 575,000-square-foot shopping Xana-
du in central Los Angeles, let its owner, Rick Caruso, introduce you
to its neighbor, the iconic Farmers Market. He takes you to a butch-
er stall where, some 80 years ago, Caruso’s father was sweeping the
floor. Next he points to a pizza stand founded by Patsy D’Amore,
who baked L.A.’s first pie in 1939. “I grew up on his knee,” he says.
Dapper in a custom suit and red-and-black-striped tie, Caruso weaves his way
through the chaos, frequently stopping to ask merchants, “How’s business?”
It’s the same question Caruso asks of his own tenants, who have put this 59-year-
old real estate developer on The Forbes 400 at No. 179. While the Farmers Mar-
ket is gritty and authentic, The Grove is the pinnacle of artificial grandeur, where
every detail matters. The copper garbage-can lids are polished. If a child drops an
ice cream cone, a security guard will swiftly appear with a fresh scoop. Male em-
ployees must wear ties unless the temperature tops 85 degrees. Caruso obsesses
over the positioning of trees, which arrive on his properties fully grown. A prac-
ticing Catholic, he begins planning for Christmas a year in advance and started his
own Santa staffing business because the agency options didn’t meet his north of the
North Pole standards. Making a splash: Rick
Caruso at his signature
And after all these years, Caruso hasn’t forgotten the lessons he learned grow- property in Los Angeles,
ing up around the Farmers Market. “If you provide something that is unique and The Grove. At 3,400
square feet, the dancing ETHAN PINES FOR FORBES
relevant, in a setting that people find captivating, you will do well,” he says. “Re- fountain is larger than the
average American home.

90 | FORBES OCTOBER 31, 2018