A 150-year-old olive tree rooted in Spain will take center stage Thursday as OLIVE TREE PEOPLE opens its first U.S. flagship in Los Angeles.
The waterless beauty company will officially open its store at 1335 Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice on Aug. 27, using the living tree for a ceremonial opening instead of a traditional ribbon-cutting.
The tree will remain rooted in Spain while its “live frequency” is used to symbolically connect the Los Angeles location with the olive groves where company founder Thomas Lommel began developing the philosophy behind the brand.
The opening comes three years after OLIVE TREE PEOPLE entered the U.S. market and 23 years after Lommel founded the company in Germany.
Lommel’s relationship with olive trees began following a serious personal health crisis. During a period he describes as a “time of silence,” he turned toward nature, creative work and the Mediterranean. He eventually began studying olive trees, working with local farmers and exploring traditional knowledge surrounding the fruit, leaves and oil.
In 2001, he acquired an olive grove in Andalusia containing about 120 century-old trees. There, he built a small treehouse and began experimenting with olive leaves and developing the green olive-tree elixirs that would become central to the company’s products.
That work eventually led to OLIVE TREE PEOPLE’s waterless beauty approach, which replaces the conventional water phase in skincare with an olive-tree elixir rich in hydroxytyrosol and other bioactive compounds.
“Waterless Beauty didn’t come from a trend,” Lommel said. “It was born from years of living with these trees, protecting them, learning from them, and trusting that nature already knows better than we do.”
The Los Angeles flagship is designed to reflect that history. New York architect Jeremy Barbour of Tacklebox Architecture incorporated about 45,000 pounds of soil from Spain and Los Angeles into the space using the ancient rammed-earth construction technique.
Sculptural structures inspired by olive trees will serve as product displays throughout the store, reinforcing the company’s connection to nature.
Visitors will be able to explore OLIVE TREE PEOPLE’s portfolio of beauty and wellness brands, including OLIVEDA, LA DOPE, OLIVE ROSE, OLIVE MUSH, IS THAT MATTY? and OLIVE re to nature.
The location also will host master classes, consultations and events featuring aestheticians, makeup artists and Waterless Beauty Consultants.
Lommel said he first felt drawn to Abbot Kinney in 2014 because of its independent shops, art and creative atmosphere. Twelve years later, the neighborhood is home to the company’s first U.S. flagship — and to Lommel himself.
The opening represents a new chapter for a company whose roots remain firmly planted in the olive groves of Spain.