Gerry Building Opens Doors

The Gerr y Building in the Los Angeles Fashion District officially opened its doors on Sept. 10 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and reception.

The 1940s-era building, which is located on Los Angeles Street across from the California Market Center, was originally manufacturing space but has undergone a complete renovation by owner MJW Investments to create nine floors of showroom space.

The building currently has three completed showrooms, which were open for a soft launch in time for Los Angeles Market Week in August. The current showrooms range in size from 1,200 to 3,000 square feet, although there are larger spaces in the building.

The showrooms open for the event included Muse and Curves Apparel on the sixth floor and the Lois Evans showroom on the fifth floor.

Muse carries apparel, accessories and jewelry lines including Erica Courtney, Crislu, Lori Lori and Dero Leather. Showroom owner Jennifer Colby has been in business for 14 years but this is her first showroom.

The Lois Evans showroom carries intimate apparel including Johnquil, Bella Sera, Gigi and Seven Sundays. And the Curves Apparel showroom carries intimate lines Curves and Fabulass.

Also on display at the opening was a model of MJW’s other Fashion District project, Santee Court, a mixed-use development with space for 578 housing units and 115,000 square feet of retail space.

The opening drew such notables as Los Angeles City Councilman Nick Pacheco; Arthur Gerry, a member of the family that built and owned the building; MJW president Mark Weinstein; Max Salter, former mayor of Beverly Hills, Calif., and chairman of the board of directors of the Los Angeles Fashion District Business Improvement District (BID); and Lynn Myers, general manager of the Fashion District BID.

Larry Hudson, director of leasing for the building, led guests on tours of the structure and the open showrooms. The showrooms will be open for October and November markets.