Christopher Kennedy Palm Springs home goods store to close in May

Christopher Kennedy’s soon-to-be-closed retail store at 901 North Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs.

Local modernist designer Christopher Kennedy’s home goods retail store at 901 N. Palm Canyon Drive will close at the end of May after more than six years in the location.

Some elements of the shop will be incorporated into Kennedy’s private design studio at 707 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, according to Kennedy, although business’ primary focus will shift away from retail sales.

“At this juncture, I want to focus on our private design clients — which is our core business — and my own personal work-life balance,” Kennedy wrote in an email. He noted that the closure of the neighboring Pelago furniture store last week also made it seem like “a good time for us to move on, as well.”

Christopher Kennedy at his design studio at 707 East Tahquitz Canyon Way.

Kennedy said his smaller retail business will be open at the Tahquitz Canyon Way location during the week and on weekends by appointment. He noted that his brand has also begun selling retail products on its website at christopherkennedy.com.

Christopher Kennedy began as an interior design firm in 2005 and expanded to include retail home goods sales about a decade ago. The company’s initial retail location was a 3,000-square-foot space on South Palm Canyon Drive. It relocated to the North Palm Canyon Drive location roughly six years ago.

Kennedy’s show homes have been a mainstay of Palm Springs Modernism Week since the event’s inception. His eponymous “Christopher Kennedy Compound” — incorporating designs from a slew of leading designers in different rooms in the home — drew thousands of visitors for years until its final year in 2019.

James B. Cutchin covers business in the Coachella Valley. Reach him at james.cutchin@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Christopher Kennedy Palm Springs home goods store to close in May