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Remember Kourtney Kardashian’s Kids’ Boutique Smooch? Here’s the (Weird) Way It Went out of Business
Over the years, the Kardashian girls have dabbled in various business ventures (moment of silence for their Kardashian Kollection at Sears), but one that seemed to go away as quietly as it came was the children’s boutique Smooch, which was owned by Kourtney Kardashian and Kris Jenner.
Smooch, a Calabasas-based kids’ clothing store, was occasionally featured on the first few seasons of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, and surprisingly, it was open for six years! But alas, in 2009, right as the Kardashians’ careers were taking off, Kourt decided to close its doors. So, what happened?
The children’s boutique owned by @KourtneyKardash Smooch is closing! Almost everything is now 50% off! http://smoochkids.com #smoochkids
— bidsie (@bidsieauctions) November 30, 2009
Back in the day, when the Kardashian girls had blogs on Celebuzz (remember that?!), Kourtney revealed that the reason she closed her beloved store was so she could spend more time with son Mason Disick, who she was pregnant with at the time. On the blog, Kourtney wrote, “My mom and I opened our children’s clothing boutique Smooch six years ago. My grandmother has had a children’s boutique in La Jolla for 30 years now, and it was always a dream of my mom’s and mine to have a store of our own. I used to work in the store all day, every day, stay hours after closing and was obsessed with it… Smooch was my baby! The energy and love I put into the store truly paid off and in a weird way, the store really helped me deal with my father’s death… I put my feelings into the store!”
But, from the sound of things, the real reason Kourtney and Kris decided to shut down Smooch may have been because it wasn’t doing so well. “After thinking about it long and hard, we have decided to close Smooch. This does make me sad, but I also know that I don’t have the time (especially now that I will have my baby boy to take care of) that the store deserves to be the Smooch that we created,” Kourtney said. “It is just not the same without me and my mom there to run it.”
Kourtney in Smooch.
And being the business savvy woman that she is, the now-mother-of-three made sure to let fans know about the deep discounts Smooch would be offering. “That being said, almost everything in Smooch is now half off! All of the adorable furniture and accessories are for sale as well. Happy shopping!!” Kourtney revealed at the time.
About a year after Smooch closed down, Kourtney and the boutique were sued for $2,331.23 by a company called Flowers by Zoe for failing to pay for “goods, wares, merchandise, or services rendered.” Given that the damages were so small — and given that we never heard about it again — we’re guessing Kourtney paid up.
Ironically, years after Smooch closed down (and years after the mini lawsuit), Kourtney and her sisters tried their hand at children’s clothing once again with the Kardashian Kids line. The girls don’t appear to promote the brand very much these days (and the social media accounts associated with Kardashian Kids have since gone silent), but overall, the reactions to the clothes were positive.
Hey, whatever the Kardashians are selling, people are buying! Unless it has to do with kids, of course.
