FBI Moves to CMC in the New Year
Fashion Business Inc., the business incubator for small- to mid-size apparel companies, is packing its bags and moving from its long-time headquarters at The New Mart to a larger space across the street at the California Market Center in downtown Los Angeles.
The move should take place in March, when FBI, which was launched by veteran design instructor Frances Harder, takes a 7,000-square-foot space on the seventh floor of building C, according to CMC spokesperson Deborah Levine.
FBI will occupy part of a vacant wing once filled with a number of gift showrooms. Those showrooms have either closed or moved to the L.A. Mart, the longstanding gift and furniture showroom building located one mile away.
In addition, 24/7 Inc., an employment-service agency for apparel-related companies, is in discussions to move from its temporary office space on the seventh floor of the A building to a 3,000-square-foot space on the seventh floor of the C building near the new FBI headquarters, Levine said.
“The CMC is now actively leasing and collaborating with various fashion-related companies and organizations to fill the 7C wing of the California Market Center,” Levine said in an e-mail. “The goal is to provide companies their own creative office spaces within a large, communal area amongst several similar organizations.”
CMC’s management hopes to develop the wing with companies that range from graphic-design firms to public-relations companies and nonprofit organizations.Growth track
FBI has been a boon to young or inexperienced designers who need business know-how and small- and mid-size companies trying to make a go of it in the apparel industry. In its current space in The New Mart, the nonprofit organization has a lab with 18 computers and a room to hold a number of classes that teach up-and-coming entrepreneurs the ins and outs of everything from essential software programs to retail merchandising. It also collaborates with various companies to provide training programs for new businesses and designers.
Recently, the British-born Harder secured a $115,000 grant ($48,000 in cash and the rest in software) from Microsoft Corp. to train displaced workers in the apparel industry. FBI will use the funds for new technology in its FBI Business Design Resource Center. “We’re offering people who are between jobs free training,” Harder said, explaining the purpose of the Microsoft grant. “This way, people can make themselves more [rich] in education when they go for a job interview. This will be key to surviving this downturn in the economy.”
Harder, a former associate professor at the Otis College of Art and Design, launched FBI in September 1999, initially working out of a small 500-square-foot space in The New Mart.
In 2001, FBI received a grant from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to expand into a 5,000-square-foot space on the second floor of The New Mart, which was originally donated by the building’s owner, Joyce Eisenberg, and a charitable foundation. But that era of free rent has ended, with FBI recently having to pay for its office space.
“They are a great tenant, and we are very proud to have them in the building,” said Roni Eller, the public-relations representative for The New Mart. “Frances is a mainstay of this industry.”
But The New Mart is a very popular locale for contemporary brands searching for artsy showroom space. Eller said there is a two-year waiting list for showrooms in the 1927 building, which has large windows and an elegant lobby. “We have 25 people who come in through the door every day looking for a showroom,” she said. “We have a list of people who want a showroom. Whether they are qualified is another question.”
Eller wouldn’t say what The New Mart plans to do with the second-floor space being vacated by FBI. However, it is very likely it will be sectioned off into showrooms to accommodate demand for space or cater to tenants seeking larger showrooms. Currently, there are about 100 showrooms in the 12-story structure.
The building’s exterior is currently being refurbished.
Moving with Harder is Henry Cherner, president of Apparel Information Management System, or AIMS, a software provider to the fashion industry, with an office within the FBI space.
With more room in her new location, Harder envisions maybe having a co-op showroom for young designers and doing expanded training programs.
“The logistics of moving is a pain,” Harder said. “But once we are there, it is going to be a pretty exciting place to be.”
