Dallas upheaval could aid L.A. fashion market. (Up Front).

Los Angeles has an opportunity to raise its standing among fashion markets--if conflicts of interest don't get in the way.

In Dallas, where many clothing retailers in the Southwest shop for merchandise, two developers are proposing rival locations for apparel showrooms that are now unified in one place.

Officials at downtown L.A.'s California Market Center see this tug-of-war as an opportunity to steal away some of Dallas' customers. But one of the participants in the Dallas tussle is also a big player at the Market Center. Some local apparel manufacturers don't think center officials in L.A. are moving fast enough, and are prodding them to take more aggressive steps.

"It would be great if the building owners would make the investment to promote the mart nationally and globally and get more buyers here," said Peter Jacobson, owner of Creative Concepts, which markets several clothing lines at the Los Angeles apparel mart.

In Dallas, the 1.8 million square foot mart run by Dallas Market Center Co. will be moved to a site next door by March 2004. But another developer, Paul Stell, is trying to woo tenants of the existing 600 apparel showrooms to the vacant Mercantile Tower, where showrooms would be housed along with restaurants, a penthouse club and retail shops.

"If I were a marketing guru, I'd say here is an 18-month window where everything is in transition and the (L.A.) apparel mart has an opportunity to get more business," said one local fashion industry insider.

New York is the center of the U.S. fashion industry, but several regional centers vie for attention as well. Dallas is known for its strong showing of bridal wear, Western wear, large-size clothing, moderate sportswear and accessories. Los Angeles is known for its youngish contemporary wear, surf wear and junior wear. There are also regional markets in Atlanta and Chicago.

Window of opportunity

Paul Lentz, general manager of the California Market Center, said Los Angeles has an opportunity to boost its fashion presence, in categories excluding Western wear.

"I don't know if on a predatory basis we will try to take advantage of them, but I think Dallas moving its tenants will further strengthen the markets on the East and West coasts," he said.

California Market Center plans to beef up its stronger categories, Lentz said. He and his staff said they will renovate the floors housing showrooms for junior wear, surf wear, swimwear and urban young men's wear in an attempt to entice more buyers to the area.

The California Market Center also plans to showcase more local designers with a national reputation. "We're going to try to re-attract some business back to Los Angeles that was here before but departed for whatever reason," he said.

But some people would like to see additional efforts, such as paying for buyers to travel to the local mart.

"We are already the single biggest apparel producer in the U.S. If the buyers are here the product will come and if the product is here the buyers will come," Jacobson said.

As department store chains have consolidated, the marts have intensified competition for fewer buyers. Meanwhile, there has been a steep decline in independently owned stores. Department stores, too, are putting greater emphasis on private-label merchandise.

Some have suggested that the Los Angeles apparel mart move earlier by one week some of its market weeks, when buyers come to town to view the new lines. This would allow more European lines to be included.

"The European lines close their lines at the end of October and the end of March, which is too late for Los Angeles markets," said Ed Mandelbaum, who co-produces an apparel trade show called Designers & Agents. "If Los Angeles would change its market dates, all that great product could be exhibited here, attracting more Asian buyers."

Dallas Market Center Co. is one of three entities that lease and manage the California Market Center in Los Angeles. While some apparel industry executives said privately that there is a conflict of interest, Dallas Market Center President and Chief Executive Bill Winsor denied it.

Dallas Market Center is downsizing its influence at the California Market Center, Winsor said. Instead of helping to lease and manage all the showrooms in the L.A. building, the Dallas people now will only be leasing and managing the gift and home decor showrooms. Leasing and management of the 1,000 apparel showrooms is being left to Lentz and his staff, who report to Hertz Investment Group, the majority owner of the 3 million-square-foot structure.

Winsor also noted that the Dallas and Los Angeles apparel marts each have their own strengths.