California Mart

A woman who's in fabulous shape can wear any old tank suit and look terrific. Those in need of a little lifting and compressing, however, owe a debt of gratitude to Gottex. The Israeli swimwear company takes credit for pioneering hard-cup bras, and is exceedingly generous with the Lycra (20% Lycra as opposed to the 13% to 15% used by competitors) in its fabric. Those reasons alone might easily explain why Gottex is America's top swimsuit import.

Sidney L. Morse, 71, once a leading executive in the apparel industry who served as general manager of the California Mart in Los Angeles for 30 years, died Wednesday of complications from leukemia at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, said publicist Dale Olsen. Since the California Mart was founded in the early 1960s -- by Morse's father, Barney Morse, and his uncle, Harvey Morse -- it has served as the center of the wholesale garment industry in Los Angeles.

The owners of the California Mart, the center of Southern California's apparel and fashion business, have agreed to sell the downtown Los Angeles showroom and office complex to Hertz Investment Group for about $90 million, according to people familiar with the deal. The Los Angeles-based real estate investment firm is in escrow to buy the 2-million-square-foot California Mart from Equitable Life Assurance Co.

The California Mart in downtown Los Angeles will be renamed California Market Center when the newest tenant at the giant wholesale showroom complex moves in next year, said mart owner Judah Hertz of Hertz Investment Group. The new tenant is Britain-based DMG World Media, which recently signed a lease for 1.1 million square feet of showroom space at the California Mart complex at 9th and Los Angeles streets.

Unhappy with yearly rent hikes, deteriorating Downtown conditions and what they describe as the landlord's refusal to work with them, several hundred tenants of the California Mart will vote next month on whether to move out of the 27-year-old wholesale apparel building. Four hundred of the building's tenants organized into the 110 E. 9th Street Tenants' Assn. in July and hired lawyers and real-estate brokers to find them an alternate site in the Santa Monica or South Bay areas.

Los Angeles' California Mart has enhanced its image as the world's largest fashion merchandising marketplace with the announcement of a new expansion phase focusing on a thriving California menswear market. Plans for the D Building were disclosed last week at a breakfast reception hosted by partners of California Mart, a family-owned business founded by Harvey and Barney Morse in the early 1960s. Ground breaking has been scheduled for next May, coinciding with the Mart's 25th anniversary year.

Sidney L. Morse, 71, once a leading executive in the apparel industry who served as general manager of the California Mart in Los Angeles for 30 years, died Wednesday of complications from leukemia at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, said publicist Dale Olsen. Since the California Mart was founded in the early 1960s -- by Morse's father, Barney Morse, and his uncle, Harvey Morse -- it has served as the center of the wholesale garment industry in Los Angeles.

The California Mart in downtown Los Angeles will be renamed California Market Center when the newest tenant at the giant wholesale showroom complex moves in next year, said mart owner Judah Hertz of Hertz Investment Group. The new tenant is Britain-based DMG World Media, which recently signed a lease for 1.1 million square feet of showroom space at the California Mart complex at 9th and Los Angeles streets.

The California Mart, which has been home to apparel wholesalers in Los Angeles' historic Downtown garment district for years, will be revitalized in an attempt to attract new tenants, the building's new owners said Friday. The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, which foreclosed Tuesday after the previous owners defaulted on about $250 million in outstanding loans, said it will begin making improvements immediately.

Angie Garcia has no way of knowing that her monthly shopping sprees at the California Mart in the downtown garment district rankle many of the building's tenants. Each day, thousands of consumers like Garcia search the 1.5 million square feet of selling space at 9th Street and Olympic Boulevard for bargains.

In a sizable economic boost for the downtown area, Los Angeles will become one of the leading U.S. centers of the gift industry with the signing of a lease for 1 million square feet of showroom space in the garment district, it was disclosed Friday. The new tenants will fill the unoccupied portion of the 3-million-square-foot California Mart at 9th and Los Angeles streets, Mart officials said.

Q I am interested in opening a men's retail store next June. I am having difficulty finding wholesalers for brand-name clothing. Is there any information that you can provide to assist me in my search for wholesalers in the Los Angeles area? --Sal Ruiz, Los Angeles * A You need to get plugged into the extensive Southern California network of apparel manufacturers, marketing companies and retailers that congregate around CaliforniaMart (http://www.californiamart.com), at 110 East 9th St.

Owners of the L.A. Mart in downtown Los Angeles have agreed to sell the 860,000-square-foot gift and furniture wholesaler mart to Saddle Brook, N.J.-based Vornado Realty Trust, one of the market's owners confirmed Wednesday.

The owners of the California Mart, the center of Southern California's apparel and fashion business, have agreed to sell the downtown Los Angeles showroom and office complex to Hertz Investment Group for about $90 million, according to people familiar with the deal. The Los Angeles-based real estate investment firm is in escrow to buy the 2-million-square-foot California Mart from Equitable Life Assurance Co.

The hub of Southern California's apparel industry--the massive California Mart in downtown Los Angeles--has been put up for sale and is expected to draw bids of more than $100 million, according to people familiar with property. Equitable Life Assurance Co., which took control of the property in 1994 in a foreclosure, is selling the complex as part of an ongoing effort to reduce its real estate portfolio. Officials who handle the giant insurance company's portfolio said they had no comment.

Summer's heat may be five months away, but starting today the temps will fashionably sizzle at the California Mart, the world's largest fashion-industry hub. And the buzz is all about femme fun. Think pink. Slip into gauze. Girlfriend, revisit the '50s. Buyers from across the country--and around the world--will invade CalMart to shop the latest trends for the coming summer season of sand and surf.

The hub of Southern California's apparel industry--the massive California Mart in downtown Los Angeles--has been put up for sale and is expected to draw bids of more than $100 million, according to people familiar with property. Equitable Life Assurance Co., which took control of the property in 1994 in a foreclosure, is selling the complex as part of an ongoing effort to reduce its real estate portfolio. Officials who handle the giant insurance company's portfolio said they had no comment.

Blue jeans company Levi Strauss has announced that it will move its Southern California office out of the California Mart building in the garment district to downtown Long Beach. Just as 400 other California Mart tenants are considering a move to Santa Monica, Levi Strauss signed a 10-year lease to occupy part of the 20th floor of the Landmark Square office building at 111 W. Ocean Blvd. in Long Beach.

The most telling moment at the CaliforniaMart Designer Awards ceremony at the Beverly Hilton on Sunday night wasn't when this year's winner, the popular and talented Trina Turk, strode to the podium to accept her crystal trophy. Nor was it when Ron Herman shared an award for the impact his Ron Herman Fred Segal Melrose store has had on fashion in Los Angeles.

Here's a sooo SoCal story for ya, straight from the fashion front lines at Sunday night's CaliforniaMart Designer Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. The Rising Star of the Year winner, Cynthia Vincent, kinda, sorta, more or less had a feeling she would take home the hourglass-shaped crystal trophy for her St. Vincent line. She's no clairvoyant, but Vincent said her friend and fellow nominee Monah Li "told me her psychic told her I was gonna win. She told me two weeks ago."