Gerry Reaches 90 Percent Occupancy
Showroom building juggles challenge of drawing
In December, Larry Hudson signed 10 leasing deals for the Gerry Building.The deals took the Fashion Intersection’s newest building to a 90 percent occupancy rate in the first week of January. (The showroom building had a 76 percent occupancy rate in December.) The leap in occupancy is one sign that business is improving for the Gerry, where tenants have sometimes complained about lack of walk-in buyer traffic during trade shows.
Hudson, the general manager of the Gerry, signed leases with high-profile denim companies such as Miss Sixty, headquartered in Italy. He also signed a lease with the up-and-coming Los Angeles–based Drifter, which sells its tops at the Project trade show in New York and Las Vegas. Los Angeles–based rock- and club-wear brand Lip Service also leased a showroom space for its new street-rock brand Kill City and the modern gothic brand Blacklist.
Other new Gerry tenants include multi-line sales representatives GDK Sales Group and Leah J. & Reg. New York–based sleepwear manufacturer Nap Intimates and Los Angeles–based contemporary line Jaswear signed leases too.
The string of Gerry deals occurred as showroom space is becoming scarcer for some categories, such as women’s contemporary, according to Kent Smith, executive director of the Fashion District Business Improvement District. “Everyone wants to be around 9th and Los Angeles streets,” he said of the intersection where the Gerry Building is located along with fashion-showroom buildings the California Market Center, The New Mart and the Cooper Design Space. “Each of the buildings has been getting prestigious tenants.”
The New Mart has been at full occupancy for several years, according to the building’s general manager, Ethan Eller. The Cooper Design Space, which includes showroom, manufacturing and office space, is 90 percent leased, according to Mona Sangkala, director of leasing. The California Market Center’s fifth floor, which is dedicated to women’s contemporary apparel, is 92 percent occupied, and the 6th floor, which houses children’s apparel, has reached total occupancy.
At the Gerry Building, showroom rents start at $1.50 per square foot.
New tenants cited the Gerry’s existing tenant list and the building’s glass-wall showrooms among reasons for moving in. “It’s all about location,” said Banda Kim, chief executive of Drifter. “Gerry is at the center of everything.”
The Gerry building was constructed in an Art Moderne architectural style and opened in 1947 as the headquarters to lingerie and dress company Gerry of California. MJW Investments’ Mark Weinstein purchased the property in 1998 and reopened the 108,220-square-foot Gerry as a building for showrooms in 2002. Weinstein sold the company in July to a Los Angeles–area investment group.
While the Gerry’s showrooms were filling up, the building began to enjoy more walk-in traffic during Los Angeles Fashion Market, which ran Jan. 13–17. Still, the slow process of building walk-in traffic has irked some Gerry showroom vendors.
“It’s a beautiful building, but the foot traffic is still off,” said Nikki Young, co-owner of the Nikki & Lucy showroom. She said retailers who visit her showroom for appointments have never hesitated to come back to the building. Young said she built more traffic for her Gerry showroom by renting booth space at the Brighte Cos. trade show at the CMC during market weeks.
Hudson said he believed that traffic would come as tenants and management continue to make the effort to build it. “We have some great lines here,” Hudson said. “We certainly have a good occupancy situation. What we need to do is work on that traffic edge more.”
