Cal Mart Adds New Junior Market to April Schedule

Signifying the evolution of Los Angeles as a fashion hub, the California Mart has announced the addition of a second junior market geared for the back-to-school season to its lineup of shows.

Slated for April 15–18, the Fall ’02 Los Angeles Junior & Contemporary Market will overlap Los Angeles Fashion Week, to be held April 12–15, in an effort to lure buyers to both events.

“It’s a no-brainer,” said Trish Moreno, the Cal Mart’s executive director of creative marketing and public relations. “Our October junior market is so successful and is a huge draw to buyers. Why do we have one market? A number of the buying offices have meetings with retailers in April, so we see there’s a need for a more sponsored event. If this works, we can add more junior markets in the future.”

Moreno said the move aims to reverse the trend among West Coast manufacturers to show their lines in New York each month. Experts say the Los Angeles area represents around 75 percent to 80 percent of the junior market, but most designers still make the East Coast trek to break their lines.

“This is where the trends start, where the fashions start, but they’re not being shopped here,” said Mark Reisner, vice president of sales for Los Angeles-based Knitworks, a junior manufacturer of knitwear, who chaired the committee responsible for the assembly of the new market. “It will be nice for manufacturers to cut back on travel and for retailers to utilize the resources in Los Angeles.”

Key to the success of the upcoming event is the number of buyers it attracts. The October market typically attracts buyers from J.C. Penney Co. Inc., Sears, Roebuck & Co., Kohl’s Corp., Belk Inc., May Department Stores Co. and Federated Department Stores Inc. The small window of time left until the show in April may make it difficult to tamper with set retail travel budgets. But, supporters say retailers can simply shift resources.

“It’s not a big deal. Retailers may simply split up their buying teams to come to New York or Los Angeles, or simply send them all here,” said Sandy Potter, principal at Los Angeles-based Directives West, a retail consulting firm, which also was instrumental in the junior market addition.

Signs show too that the travel tide is shifting as retailers tighten their belts. This year, for the first time, Macy’s West will forgo New York travel in February for spring buying in Los Angeles. Dillard’s and Clothestime also have scaled back their New York trips for the year.

For now, buyers at Nordstrom Inc. are maintaining their New York schedules but welcome the extra scouting opportunities in Los Angeles.

“An expanded junior market would be helpful. We’re very excited and anxious to see what the results will be,” said a Nordstrom spokesperson.

Moshe Tsabag, owner of Los Angeles-based junior manufacturer Hot Kiss, heralds the move. A year ago, Tsabag tripled the size of his showroom in a bid to entice retailers to think of Los Angeles as home base for junior fashion, similar to 20years ago. To date, progress has been gradual, but he thinks the junior market will only hasten the Los Angeles transition.

“I remember the days when California was quite active and busy with junior markets in January, April, June, August and October and I think people are starting to feel good about California again,” Tsabag said.

Moreno said junior manufacturers represent a significant portion of the Cal Mart, comprising 15 percent of the tenants at the 1,200-showroom center, trailing behind only contemporary and textile companies.

Buying offices are preparing for the arrival of junior buyers at the April market.

Los Angeles-based Barbara Fields Buying Office is gearing up to host a breakfast and fashion show on the morning of April 15 as well as co-hosting a cocktail hour that evening. Barbara Fields arrived in New York for the recent market, armed with invitations for the events.

“I held my first April back-to-school show last year and I had 150 people attend, so I know there’s a need for this market,” Fields said.

Fields has already received affirmative R.S.V.P.s from Clothestime, J.C. Penney, Windsor Fashions and Reference Clothing.

It’s not surprising that manufacturers and retailers want a bigger piece of the back-to-school pie. The season ranks as No. 2 in terms of sales, being bested only by the critical holiday shopping period, which often represents 25 percent of retail sales for the entire year, according to America’s Research Group in Charleston, S.C.

Last year, the Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo (ASR) announced it was adding the ASR Back2Skool Trade show to its roster of conferences, scheduling it for March 19–20, in response to numerous exhibitor and retailer requests.

“For many vendors, the timing of the January and February trade shows is too early to present Fall lines,” said Michelle LeBlanc, ASR marketing manager. “In addition, due to having just received Spring product and ordered Summer deliveries, quite a few of the specialty retail buyers are not ready to buy Fall and back-to-school lines until March.”L.A. Korean Manufacturers Set Trade Show in April

The show may also get a boost from the debut of the LAKAM (Los Angeles Korean Apparel Manufacturers) Trade Show running concurrently with the junior market. Chris Ahn of Los Angeles-based Magic Properties Inc. and apparel veteran Robert Mulder are the partners behind the apparel manufacturers group, which plans to hold three trade shows a year, in April, October and January.

Mulder and Ahn plan to drive business to the trade show through a number of marketing efforts, including co-hosting Fields’ cocktail reception. LAKAM, which consists of mostly junior manufacturers, will occupy the downstairs exhibit hall of the Cal Mart. So far, 30 percent of the projected 140 vendors have committed to the show, Mulder said.

“These trade shows are geared to help retailers cross the bridge to the Korean manufacturing sector [that] is right on top of fashion trends,” Mulder said. “Often, the Korean market isn’t accessible to them, and this will create an opportunity to interact with many vendors.