Kristi Harris Sales
Cooper Design SpaceSuite 640(213) 683-8086showroom@kristiharris.com
For veteran showroom owner Kristi Harris, strength means diversity.
Her self-named showroom represents 17 different clients, and it is Harris’ aim to offer every fashionable item that a woman might need, whether it is jewelry, handbags, belts, dresses or even hats. This diversity card has been her strategy since she started her career in 1992, and it has recently placed her business on a growth spurt.
After 10 years of working out of The New Mart, she said she needed more space for her sixperson sales operation. On Jan. 3, she moved to a 2,900-square-foot loft-like showroom at the Cooper Design Space, where she designed the area similar to a boutique. The floors are polished concrete. The place features a high ceiling, where many of the building’s HVAC pipes are exposed. The polished concrete and exposed ceiling both seem to be a design requirement for many contemporary stores.
When visitors pass through the glass doors of the Kristi Harris showroom, they see the wares of Los Angeles companies such as jewelry by the label Dogeared and handbags by New York–based accessories line Kuba. Walk toward the east edge of her showroom and a visitor will see dresses and tops designed by Los Angeles–based designer Melissa Masse.
Harris’ wholesale price points range from $12 for necklaces by Dogeared to $1,000 necklaces by Sebastopol, Calif.–based Becky Kelso. Her core wholesale price points range from $50 to $400. New designers that Harris will debut during this market include embroidered coats by contemporary designer Biya, as well as leather jackets and vests by Kuba.
If it sounds diverse, Harris plans to keep it that way. “You get to introduce customers to new designers. It’s like Christmas every time the designers show a new collection,” she said. —Andrew Asch
