At the Pinkberry house

The chain's co-founders, Young Lee and Shelly Hwang, invite the WSJ to their 3,000-square-foot Malibu home. The place looks a little like the store, with clean lines and clear glass and white, glossy surfaces (it was furnished by the same guy who worked on the stores).

The kitchen, dining room and family room are all on the main level, undivided by walls and lined by sliding glass doors opening to a patio. There are three large bedrooms and a grassy yard, all dressed with modern furniture. But many times the 45-year-old Mr. Lee can be found downstairs in the media room where he (incessantly, says Ms. Hwang) plays the videogame Call of Duty: World at War on his 65-inch Bang & Olufsen flat-screen TV.

[CUT]

"I picked this house out easier than a suit, and I have a hard time buying a suit," he says. To illustrate the point, Mr. Lee heads to the walk-in closet, where a rack groans under the weight of about a dozen suit jackets--all Hermès, which run between $4,000 to $6,000 apiece. "It's not obnoxious and it doesn't go out of style. It is well built. Just like this house," Mr. Lee says.

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Mark Lacter
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.
 
Mark Lacter, business writer and editor was 59
The multi-talented Mark Lacter
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