Stories for January 2002

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Friday, January 25

Gifts to Occupy Half of Cal Mart Building Complex

The gift show that recently debuted at the California Mart under the name California Market Center (CMC) will eventually occupy half of the three-building space, with gifts occupying...

Fashion, Brands Drive Traffic at ISS

Brand appeal, the need for speed and trend-watching were the key themes floating around the halls of the Long Beach [Calif.] Convention Center during the Jan. 18–20 West Coas...

Phillip Bloch's Expertise Now Available on eBay

The Los Angeles stylist has a new column on the online auction site called Phillip’s Fashion Finds, in which he offers shopping tips and trends. The column is part of

Exporters Wanted

The Center for International Trade Development (CITD) is looking for exporters or companies that are thinking about exporting. The tax-funded, nonprofit CITD is offering a round of courses on interna...

Leslie Fay Exec Polishan Sentenced

Leslie Fay exec Paul F. Polishan was sentenced to nine years in prison followed by three years of supervised release and a $900 fine following his conviction in 2000 for securities fraud. Polishan was convicted for o...

AAFA Goes Abroad

The Washington, D.C.-based American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) is undertaking its first overseas trade mission to Vietnam Jan. 20–27. The trade mission includes 15 AAFA members, w...

Road Show

Retailers look to mobile technology for better customer service...

Wahine Magazine Shutters

Wahine magazine, a publication that catered to women in boardsports by encouraging a “just do it” attitude with its confidence-building editorial content and pictorials, announc...

End of Recession May Be Near

The end of the recession may be near, according to two recently released economic indicators. Initial jobless claims fell 14,000 to 384,000 during the week ending Jan. 11, according to the La...

Boardsports: Where the Girls Are

Apparel makers tap into young women’s growing interest in action sports...

Surf's Style, Skate's Accessibility

Boardsports, or action sports, the group label for surf, skate and snowboarding, are currently pursued by more than 20 million Americans, according to Board-Trac, an Orange County, Calif.-bas...

Kmart Filed for Chapter 11

Kmart filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing slow holiday sales and problems with key product shipments. The filing came shortly after Kmart’s only grocery supplier, Flemming Co., announced it woul...

Block Party

Westport, Conn.-based Integrated Corporate Relations Inc. (ICR), an investor relations and corporate consulting firm, brought together a collection of youth-oriented brands to prese...

Prospecting for Gold

For Los Angeles designer Eletra Casedei, the Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 20 provided a golden opportunity. Casadei, owner of the Casadei contemporary sportswear and dress label, and ...

Apparel Prices Continue to Fall

Apparel prices continue to fall, according to the Labor Department, which found a 3.2 percent drop in apparel prices in December—the steepest decline since 1952. December apparel prices fell 0.6 percen...

Tyco Plans Breakup Into Four Units

Bermuda-based Tyco International Ltd., a diversified manufacturing and service company, recently announced a plan to split into four separate companies, including ones focusing on security an...

'Dateless' Shirts Find Soulmates at Beige

Turning lemons into lemonade, Boston-based designer Stephanie Seeley has created a line of Dateless T-shirts that are blowing out of the Los Angeles boutique Beige....

Third Rail Hires New Creative Team

Los Angeles-based Third Rail Clothing recently announced the addition of Lena Hermansson and Lorraine Getz to the lifestyle clothing company. Hermansson, former designer at BC Ethic...

Friday, January 18

Jacobson's Stores Filed for Chapter 11

Jacobson’s Stores filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Michigan. The 243-year-old chain announced it would close five of its 23 stores and lay off 520 employees....

AAFA Has New Site

The American Apparel and Footwear Association has revamped its Web site [

Shop Local

Los Angeles Mayor Jim Hahn and other city officials announced a new program designed to spur the local economy into recovery. Shop L.A. County runs from Jan. 17–21 and offers discounts for consumers sh...

Lee Jeans in Uniform Business

Lee Jeans is in the uniform business. The Kansas-based denim giant and VF division has launched Lee School, a collection of moderately priced school uniforms for boys and girls. The collection is bein...

Saks Consolidate Credit Card Operations

Saks will consolidate its credit card operations in Illinois and Mississippi into one credit card service center in Jackson, Miss., by May 2002. The consolidation will reduce overhead by $2 million, a...

CMC Preview Show Bows at Cal Mart

The California Market Center (CMC) debuted with a small sampling of gift showrooms, giving buyers an indication of what is in store for them at the center’s full-scale launch July 16–23....

Forum Explores Youth Market

Wesport, Conn.-based Integrated Corporate Relations Inc. (ICR), an investor relations and corporate consulting firm, presented its fourth annual ICR XChange youth market bus...

Buyers, Reps SeeBright Spots atSummer '02 Market

The look of a recovering apparel market—post Sept. 11—started to materialize during the Jan. 11–15 Summer 2002 Market Week in Los Angeles as apparel vendors in the California M...

Some Sectors May Rebound

Some sectors of the U.S. economy may begin to rebound by mid-year or earlier, according to the Federal Reserve in its recently issued Beige Book survey. The economy remained weak between November and ...

D&A Goes to Tokyo

Designers & Agents is once again taking its show on the road, this time to Tokyo. ...

Hang Ten Taps Fantas-Eyes

San Diego-based surfwear maker Hang Ten has partnered with Fantas-Eyes to produce a sunglasses collection that will make its debut at the Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo i...

Jubilation: Contemporary Without the Contemporary Price

Los Angeles-based label Jubilation is designed with the contemporary customer in mind but without the contemporary price point. ...

Carlos Moore Steps Down

Carlos Moore will be stepping down from his post as executive vice president of the American Textile Manufacturers Institute (ATMI). The news comes on the heels of the Washington, D.C.-based organization...

December '01 Sales Not a Total Bust

The profit picture may look bleak, but a number of retailers managed to eke out better-than-expected sales in December thanks to a shopping rally in the final stretch of the month. C...

Hertz Sews Up Deal With Harkham

Hertz Investment Group, owner of the California Mart, has sold off two of its Los Angeles fashion district properties to Uri Harkham of Hype/Jonathan Martin fame fo...

Attendance Flat at Surf Expo

Attendance was flat at the Jan. 11–13 run of Surf Expo, the biannual swimwear trade show in Orlando, Fla., according to organizers. ...

Yellow Boutique Adds Menswear

Yellow owner Helen Hwang is beefing up the lineup at her Los Angeles boutique with the addition of men’s clothing....

Chow Tapped as Tarrant CFO

Patrick Chow has been named chief financial officer of Los Angeles-based private-label denim maker Tarrant Apparel Group. In his new position, Chow will report to Gerard Guez, chairman....

Hot Kiss Goes Abroad With Cherokee

Los Angeles-based junior manufacturer Hot Kiss recently announced an exclusive agreement with Van Nuys, Calif.-based Cherokee Group to pursue licensing agreements for its junior spor...

MJW Wins OK for Santee Court

MJW Investments Inc. recently won entitlements from the city of Los Angeles for Santee Court, its $120 million, 780,000-square-foot mixed-use project that will be built over nine bui...

Rx: Drugs Are Prescription for Fashion

Tobacco companies are no longer allowed to advertise their reputedly addictive products on television, but there are no such restrictions for pharmaceutical products, which have beco...

Friday, January 11

Market Week Lowdown

The Jan. 11–15 run of Los Angeles market will mark the return of the Annex to the New Mart in downtown Los Angeles and of Focus to the California Mart, as well as a ...

Holiday Online Shopping Surges, Plus, a Site for Sore Eyes

As was the case last year,

Yves Saint Laurent Announced Retirement

Yves Saint Laurent announced his retirement from the company he launched 40 years ago. The designer will present his final collection in Paris on Jan. 22. The fate of the YSL ready-to-wear business, s...

Bisou Bisou Retail Files Chapter 11

Los Angeles-based contemporary label Bisou Bisou filed a Chapter 11 petition for its retail operation in Los Angeles Superior Court on Jan. 4, according to David Nisenbaum, the company’s chief financi...

Monitoring Service Made by the Bay Ceases Operation

On Jan. 1, Made by the Bay officially closed its doors after several attempts to obtain funding for its nonprofit organization andits operation in motion.The program that once served an integral role in the ...

Anne Robinson Tops Worst Dressed List

Anne Robinson topped the worst-dressed list compiled yearly by fashion critic Mr. Blackwell. The “Weakest Link” host shared the spotlight with Britney Spears, Bjork, Camilla Parker Bowles and Kate Hudso...

Anaheim Angel Fans Seeing Red

Anaheim Angels fans will be seeing red. The Southern California baseball team recently unveiled new uniforms featuring red as the main color. The uniforms also incorporate the team’s new logo: a halo s...

Warner Brothers Is Going Urban

The Burbank, Calif.-based company recently struck a deal with Southpole Clothing for a line of young men’s urban sportswear featuring Looney Toons characters. The collection, which debuted for Holiday ...

Paseo Colorado Hits Fashion Stride

A nearby Rose Bowl parade and football game drawing a legion of fans were a couple of factors that didn’t hurt sales this past holiday season at one of the newest shopping destinations in Southern Ca...

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....

Levi Strauss & Co. Giving Consumers Control

Levi Strauss & Co. is giving consumers control. The San Francisco-based denim giant is allowing consumers to choose which commercial will air during the Super Bowl on Feb. 3. Visitors to Levi’s Web...

Lazarus to Close Underperforming Stores

Lazarus will close three underperforming stores early this year, according to Federated Department Stores Inc., parent company of the Midwestern retail chain. Nearly 200 employees will be affected by ...

Riverside Plaza on Track to Break Ground

Developers hope to break ground by spring 2002 on the planned renovation of Riverside Plaza in Riverside, Calif....

Off-Price Show Moves to Sands

MAGIC International has a new neighbor in Las Vegas—the Off-Price Specialist Show....

Tweed Party-'Gosford Park' Steeped in 1930s Elegance

The movie: “Gosford Park”...

To Be Confirmed Heading to U.S.

To Be Confirmed is heading to the United States. The newly launched British contemporary show will host a New York run of the show Jan. 27–28 at Milk Studios in the West Village. The event will feature...

Axis Clothing Acquired by Salant

New York-based Salant Holding Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Salant Corp., recently acquired Culver City, Calif.-based Axis Clothing Corp....

Freeborders Gets 3-D Technology

Freeborders, a San Francisco-based B2B software provider, has partnered with Tel Aviv, Israel-based Browzwear International Ltd. to integrate that company’s 3-D imaging technology into Freebo...

Private Circle Shortens Name

Los Angeles-based sportswear company Private Circle recently announced that it has shortened its name to Private in order to capitalize on the branding of parent company Private Medi...

Quiksilver Is Stepping Out

Quiksilver is stepping out with a line of shoes for men. The casual footwear line promises to be slightly dressier than sneakers and will be sold initially at the company’s own stores and limited retail accoun...

Friday, January 4

California Minimum Wage Increased

The California minimum wage increased to $6.75 as of Jan. 1, exceeding the national minimum wage by $1.60. At $6.75, California and Massachusetts have the second highest hourly wage in the country. Washington...

Miss Sixty Opens Doors in Los Angeles

Italian clothing brand Miss Sixty plans to make its retail debut in the Los Angeles area with two stores opening in high-profile locations....

New Magazine Blends Urban With quot;Phashion?quot;

Mykel Kilgour, former designer for Dion Scott, recently finished the groundwork for a new bicoastal urban fashion magazine called Phashion?, which he describes as “a neo-class...

Los Angeles' Fashion District Has New Web Site

Los Angeles’ fashion district has a new Web site. The site,

Online Shopping Exceeded Expectations

Online shopping exceeded expectations this holiday. That was the good news from online research firm Jupiter Media Metrix, which found that online shopping sites saw a 55 percent increase in visitors this hol...

POOL Show Sets Location

POOL, a small alternative trade show running concurrently with MAGIC International, recently announced the Stratosphere hotel as the location for its inaugural edition, to be held F...

Retail Sales Tax Increased Statewide

Retail sales tax increased statewide by a quarter percent on Jan. 1, thanks to legislation that ties sales tax to the budget reserve. The law requires the state sales tax to increase by a quarter perc...

Italian Eatery Comes toCal Mart

Italian restaurateur Antonio Alessi, known for Tra Di Noi in Malibu, Calif., and Ristorante Alessi in Hollywood, is launching his latest endeavor, Moda Ristorante, at the C...

Harrods Scouting Chicage

Harrods is scouting Chicago. Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed recently had a series of meetings with Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley to discuss opening a branch of the British department store i...

Holiday Sales Results Mixed and Not Merry

From clothing racks touting 40 percent to 50 percent off to random, hourly discounts for the timely shopper, a snapshot of the retail holiday season reveals one thing—a bottom-line nightmare....

TALA Recognizes Next Generation

Designer Estevan Ramos gave the keynote address at Textile Association of Los Angeles’ (TALA) annual scholarship luncheon on Nov. 14 in the California Mart Fashion Theater....

Former Donna Karan Chief Files Complaint

Former Donna Karan chief executive officer John Idol has filed a breach-of-contract complaint against his former employer and Moeuml;t Hennessy Louis Vuitton, which purchased the company last November...

Sales Tax Moratorium on Hold

Chances for passage of a national sales tax moratorium bill have once again been delayed with the demise of Congress’ stimulus package late last month. Now retail industry officials are hoping the bill...

Sensient Buys Textile Printing Unit

San Diego-based Formulabs Inc., which produces textile printing technology for digital ink-jet printers, is now part of Milwaukee, Wisc.-based Sensient Technologies Corp., a...

Clothier, Wife Honored by the University of Judaism

In recognition of their work on behalf of Jewish communities, Maxwell Hillary Salter, chairman of Los Angeles-based Beno’s Clothing Stores, and his wife, Janet, will be honor...

TALA Honors Save A Life, Sachs

The Textile Association of Los Angeles (TALA) will honor local philanthropic organization California Fashion Industries Save A Life and TALA member Carol Sachs as Friend of TALA and...

Consumer Confidence Rebounded

Consumer confidence rebounded sharply in December after three months of decline, according to the Conference Board, a New York-based research firm. The Consumer Confidence Index rose to 93.7 in Decemb...