California Apparel News

Despite the recent departure of some major showrooms along with an anticipated dip in buyer traffic, many exhibitors at the Los Angeles Gift & Home Market still reported brisk business throughout the July 19–26 run of the show, held at the California Market Center.

The gift sector of the CMC was dealt a blow when one of its anchors, Firestone & Associates, left the building and moved to the rival L.A. Mart in a restructuring move. Another threat to the show came from the opening of the 2.5 million-square-foot World Market Center in Las Vegas, a new event for the home furnishings sector. Because of these setbacks, exhibitors were not expecting many buyers.

But some were surprised.

“Surprisingly, it wasn’t a bad show. We saw less people, but those that came were writing orders,” said Sandra Caicedo, showroom manager for Amscan, a home deacute;cor showroom located on the 11th floor of the CMC.

Charlotte Finklea of the April Cornell showroom on the same floor reported a sales uptick of about 30 percent in her space, which sells apparel and home accessories. Likewise, Scooter Garoutte of Entertaining Creative & Fun (EC&F), which sells novelty gifts, also reported healthy order writing. “We doubled sales over the last show,” he noted.

Garoutte and Finklea said the key was providing impulse items, especially anything fun and unique. “We sell to a lot of apparel stores,” Garoutte said.

Among the popular items at EC&F were novelty “Porn Flakes” and other varieties of cereal; Spin Bags, handbags made from vintage album covers and vinyl discs; and golf ball–shaped lip balm from Ballmania.

Finklea said Christmas linens, tea towels and “gifts-to-go” items such as packaged table setting sets also sold well.

Frank Martin of Frank Martin Associates was doing well with “The Wave,” a new inline skateboard by Laguna Beach Calif.–based Street Surfing LLC. “This is going to be big,” said Martin. The board wholesales for $65.

Other than a few hits, Martin said business was flat. “It was a decent show but could have been better,” he said.

Carol Lang, principal of the CMC’s largest gift industry tenant, California Marketing Associates (CMA), reported mixed results.

“We did better with our gift items and less so with our home goods,” she said, attributing the slack to the opening of the new Las Vegas market. “We’re all watching to see what happens there.”

The World Market Center is set to roll out in several phases, which will eventually bring more than 7 million square feet of exhibit space to Las Vegas. One CMC tenant who asked to remain anonymous said he expects that many Los Angeles area gift tenants will migrate to Las Vegas over the next year.

Lang, however, said CMA is committed to the CMC. “This is by far the best venue on the West Coast,” she said.

Several showroom reps said buyers were in a cautious mode because of world events, rising gasoline prices and other factors. “This summer has been terrible. It’s hot, and there’s so much political stuff going on,” said retailer Pennie Dobkin of Paradies by Pennie based in Pacific Palisades, Calif.

Lang said the market has been polarized as a result. “Buyers are going after either the very high-end for home accessory products or the more inexpensive items,” she noted.

Others felt the transition in ownership at the CMC hurt the show because new marketing plans have yet to be put into full operation.

“We were disappointed in the traffic,” said Michael Stawisky, sales rep for Aurora World, a distributor of plush toys and other gift items.

Several buyers appeared to be unaffected by the behind-the-scenes activities of the local industry.

“We like it here because it’s more quiet and easier to shop. The reps are all friendly,” said Robin Yoshida of Joie de Vivre, based in Carmel, Calif., who said she was on the lookout for specialty gifts and anything vintage.

The CMC changed hands in May when Los Angeles–based Jamison Properties took over ownership. Jamison officials said they plan to bring in more anchor and other tenants and will enhance marketing plans. The building hired industry veteran Robert Sotomayor to manage the gift and home sector. He replaces Charles Snyder, who recently resigned.

“Robert will be actively negotiating with potential anchor tenants,” said a CMC spokesperson. “In addition, we will be moving forward with trade shows and special events that promote our unique advantage of having gift and home and fashion under the same roof.”

CMC representatives did not release attendance figures for the show.