Cooper Building Continues Showroom Expansion
Buyers at the recent Los Angeles Fashion Market were greeted by a floor newly packed with showrooms at the Cooper Design Space. The mezzanine, which has been anchored by Showroom Seven for a year but had long needed a makeover, has recast itself as the building’s newest gem.
The Cooper building has been on a roll over the last year, converting design-studio space into showrooms. “There is just such a demand for space,” said Mona Sangkala, the Cooper’s leasing director.
In October 2006, the building opened its converted fifth floor with showrooms including Robert Rodriguez and Trina Turk, Scatola and Proper Fools. The mezzanine debuted with six showrooms, including the new Romeo & Juliet Couture, Cynthia O’Conner + Co., Zooey and Station. “This is the first market everyone has been open,” Sangkala said.
The mezzanine’s new tenants are pleased with their new homes. Cynthia O’Conner, owner of the New York–based showroom that bears her name, moved her showroom from the fifth floor to increase her space and be close to her competition. “Showroom Seven is here, and I like to stand with my competition. We have the same customers, and I think our businesses complement each other,” O’Conner said. Buyers, who in the past scooted out of her cramped showroom, stayed longer in her swank new digs and wrote more paper than ever before. “We had a 600 percent increase in business at this last market,” O’Conner said. Her showroom, which is home to 16 lines, is the only showroom on the floor that isn’t open full time.
Alice Heller, president and designer of Zooey, a Los Angeles–based contemporary knitwear line, said she was excited to launch her first-ever showroom at the Cooper building. “It is a really fabulous space. There is amazing natural light, and it is easily accessible, right by the stairs and the elevators,” Heller said. She reported doing excellent business during market. “We had appointments with 66 stores but wrote with close to 85 stores. There was a lot of walk-in traffic,” Heller said. At more than 2,000 square feet, the showroom leaves plenty of room for Zooey to grow, she said. Recently acquired by Hartmarx for $3 million, the company is on a growth track and expects to reach $30 million in the next five years.
As showrooms finish settling into the mezzanine, work has already begun on the Cooper’s 10th floor. “That is our next project,” Sangkala said. Already most of the planned eight showrooms have been leased and are expected to be open for business between January and March of next year. —Erin Barajas
