Rock 'n' Roll Tees Head to L.A. Mart
The California Market Center is not alone in its efforts to drive retail traffic with fashion and gifts. The L.A. Mart hopes one of its newest showrooms will draw apparel retailers to shop at the building, which is home to 225 permanent showrooms, mainly dealing in gifts and home furnishings.
The Crystal Group, which has built a reputation for selling rock ’n’ roll–inspired T-shirts and gifts at the California Market Center, opened a second showroom at the L.A. Mart for the Gift & Home Furnishings trade show held Jan. 17–24. The building’s marketing director, Michelle Ovalle, said she expects The Crystal Group’s new 2,200-square-foot showroom to attract buyers not familiar with the L.A. Mart.
“They’re going to bring us a whole new customer base,” she said. “Their product is more on edge.”
If Crystal Group’s California Market Center showroom is 80 percent apparel and 20 percent gifts, its L.A. Mart showroom will be 80 percent rock- and pop culture–inspired gifts and 20 percent apparel.
The apparel offered at the individual showrooms will be different, said Michael Lederman, sales manager of the privately held showroom. He believes the L.A. Mart showroom will take his company to new frontiers. “We’re in the T-shirt shops, but we haven’t captured the market for pure gift stores or pure fashion stores yet,” Lederman said. —Andrew Asch
