With colder weather arriving, swimwear brands can face a chilly business climate.
But West Main Street retailer Palapa Lounge Beachwear has proven resilient, staying open consistently for almost 17 years.
Owner Karen Jensen, has survived the highs and lows of temperature-shifts, a global pandemic and rent hikes, by staying attuned to the market—even in the face of fluctuating demand.
The nearly 40-year veteran of the swimwear industry says she’s survived turbulent times by carrying popular brands, celebrating product arrivals on social media and offering high schoolers their first-ever jobs.
Jensen, who grew up in Santa Monica, loved the beach from her earliest days.
She’s lived in Los Gatos for the last 25 years and has maintained her passion for beachlife and swimwear despite moving to Los Altos Hills at the age of five.
“The main reason I got into the swimwear industry was because, when I was in high school, I worked at UjENA swimwear in Mountain View, where they designed and manufactured the suits,” she said.
Jensen traveled all over the world with the company, working on photoshoots—including as a model.
In the 90s she moved to LA, where she opened a store on the corner of Melrose and Gardner, while simultaneously running her own mail-order swimwear business.
“That was right before the internet,” she said. “So, we would mail out these catalogs and people would either mail or fax their orders in.”
The now famous Brooke Burke, who won Season 7 of the ABC show Dancing with the Stars, modeled for Jensen’s catalog in the 90s.
After pursuits in LA ran their course, Jensen returned to the Bay Area to be with her friends and family. She got married and had kids.
Then one day, she drove by this current retail location, that used to be a Life is Good store, and saw a For Lease sign.
“I wrote the landlord a business plan, and he offered me the lease,” said Jensen.
With that, she dove back into the swimwear industry.
“Retail is so different nowadays, because back then I did special orders for people; and now people order direct,” she said. “So, I’m more conservative with my buying now.”
Jensen says she couldn’t ask for a better community in which to operate her shop.
After all, Los Gatos is a town, not a city—yet, it’s not too far from San Francisco (not to mention the beaches in Santa Cruz).
Another thing that has been helpful, she says, is her accommodating landlord.
Surviving seasonal waves
Jensen says she was able to survive the doldrums of the Covid-19 pandemic thanks to the help of high school and college students. The girls would go live on Instagram, broadcasting swimsuit try-on sessions with different sizes, which gave visibility to existing and new customers.
Once purchased, customers would meet out back and have their items delivered to their cars
Jensen says she’s employed roughly 25 high school girls since opening.
Shelley Merrick has been living in Los Gatos for 50 years and befriended Jensen in 2007 when their kids were in kindergarten.
“She had a store previously in Los Angeles, and I helped her with her first buying show when she was opening this store.”
Merrick’s daughter Ava landed her first job at Palapa Lounge the day she turned 16.
The Los Gatos High School graduate (Class of ‘23), currently studying business at the University of Utah. Both mother and daughter express their pride in Jensen watching how much it’s grown over the years.
March is the first month that Palapa Lounge picks up traffic for the summer season due to spring break traffic, with people shopping for high school and college girls.
Frankies Bikinis are the best-selling brand in Palapa Lounge, and Jensen has a relationship with the founder Francesca Aiello, who is based out of Malibu.
Jensen also travels with her daughter Skylar, a senior at San Diego State University, to buying shows.
Of course, the Northern California climate is somewhat different from what you find down south.
Jensen says that hasn’t been too much of a problem for a number of reasons, even in October.
“In the winter time, people ask if I close the store, and I respond, ‘No.’ People travel, my customers get older, and they tend to be the ones traveling on cruises and internationally.”
The tides are high for Palapa Lounge, and Jensen wants to see her store last for years to come—and maybe even by passing it on to someone in her lineage.
