The Foundation
Cooper Design SpaceLobby L(213) 489-1092 sales@thefndtn.com
A new address means a new business for The Foundation showroom.
The Foundation will be going into the boutique business with its new street-level, 4,900-square-foot space, which was formerly occupied by Connected Showroom. The Foundation offers showroom sales, brand management and distribution services, and it moved into its new space on May 5. Only 368 square feet of the space are devoted to the new boutique business, but the reason The Foundation is trying the boutique biz is the old commercial real estate slogan of “location, location, location.”
The street-level showroom is built like a boutique, with its glass walls facing the parade of people walking past the Cooper Design Space every day. By July, the new boutique will debut as a place where The Foundation will sell samples and discounted items for brands such as G-Shock and Incase. If the boutique business goes well at sample sales and market weeks, The Foundation shop may debut weekly hours running Thursdays to Saturdays, said Dre Hayes, a co-founder of The Foundation, which is headquartered in New York and debuted its West Coast office at the Cooper Design Space in 2010.
The Foundation made a gambit for its new space because it is on a growth spurt. There are 16 people working in its New York office and five people working out of its Los Angeles office. This summer, The Foundation will add more staff at its new Cooper showroom.
The Foundation is expanding because it serves a growth business, Hayes said. The Foundation started as a streetwear and contemporary showroom in 2008, but demand was so great for accessories and footwear that the company focused much of its energy on shoes, bags, headphones and eyewear. However, apparel is still crucial for the showroom’s business. It offers apparel brands such as Edwin, a Japanese denim brand with wholesale price points of $105 to $345. For the upcoming season, wholesale prices will drop to $99 and $135, Hayes said.
There’s Cult of Individuality, a New York denim brand that features premium looks, with wholesale price points that range from $45 to $65. There’s Play Cloths, a streetwear collection owned by members of Virginia-based hip-hop duo Clipse, with wholesale price points ranging from $16.50 for T-shirts to $40 for woven shirts. There’s also Black Apple, a New York–based fashion brand that has price points of $40 to $50 for woven shirts and $50 to $70 for twill pants.—Andrew Asch
