Last 12 months, Philip Manghisi, a former buyer for Elyse Walker and Jeffrey stores, launched his first retail store in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he now lives.

Called Wunderkind, a reference to Manghisi’s retail buying skills when he worked in Latest York for the now shuttered Jeffrey, the three,600-square-foot space in a small shopping mall debuted with uncomplicated luxury as its theme.

The placement carries a mix of designer ready-to-wear, contemporary collections, luxury shoes and purses, wonderful jewelry, eyewear and residential accents by Alaïa, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Chloé, Dries Van Noten, Elder Statesman, Gabriela Hearst, Givenchy, Ganni, Nili Lotan, Raquel Allegra and Re/Done, amongst others.

At first, business was great, but then the brand new store owner noticed that each one his high-end customers were disappearing between May 15 and Aug. 15 when temperatures within the desert landscape soared, and the town became hotter than a dry sauna.

“The summer was pretty bleak. Business was very, very tough,” Manghisi said from his home in Scottsdale. “So, I assumed it could make sense to open a store in a market that may do well in the course of the summer and a spot that wasn’t too removed from Scottsdale.”

Manghisi zeroed in on Montecito, the affluent Southern California town that’s home to Oprah Winfrey and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. He thought the Santa Barbara adjoining town could be a very good spot due to the tourist crowd and the variety of wealthy celebrities and residents who live there, and moved there in the course of the pandemic.

He found a 900-square-foot location near the Jenni Kayne store within the Upper Village. The space recently was occupied by an interior designer.

The locale, which looks like a stone house, is being prepared to open in mid-March. “The Montecito store will probably be designer labels only because there are several great stores in that area that carry the contemporary lines I carry,” Manghisi said. “I’m going for luxurious, but not super dressy. We’ll have something more like daytime cocktail. But Montecito is a really casual place.”

The brand new Wunderkind will carry brands including Alaïa, Chloé, Dries Van Noten, Khaite, The Row, The Elder Statesman and Gabriela Hearst.

It follows a wave of recent luxury retail happenings in the realm, including a summer-long Dior pop-up at Rick Caruso’s Rosewood Miramar Beach Hotel, where outposts of The Webster and Brunello Cucinelli are also open, joining nearby fashion retail stalwarts similar to the Montecito Country Mart and Wendy Foster.

The shop already has great bones, with exposed beams and poured concrete floors. So, Manghisi won’t be making too many interior design changes to the situation at 525 San Ysidro Road. “The shop isn’t going to be fancy,” he said. “It’ll be cozy.”