Upstart retailers of Santee Alley may be putting department stores out of fashion.

Upstart retailers of Santee Alley may be putting department stores out of fashion

A stroll down Santee Alley in Los Angeles' old downtown gives a clue to the direction of retailing in Los Angeles, and perhaps why such titans of selling, such as the Broadway and Buffums, have gone bankrupt.

More than 130 shops line Santee Alley, which in the early 1980s was nothing more than a two-block-long back alley, just east of Santee Avenue.

One shop in 1983 began selling clothes out of the back door -- which are large, roll-up industrial-type doors -- then another, and another. By the late 1980s, Santee Alley was a flourishing apparel shopping district, replete with food vendors and the ubiquitous watch salesman.

Most shoppers are Hispanic or Asian, usually families or young women. Music blares from several storefronts, either popular Top 40 tunes or music from the old country. On a recent Wednesday afternoon, there were some 1,000 shoppers in the alley -- many of whom were urgently implored by one hawker, "Come on in, we have Jordache, Calvin Kleins." L.A. Gear-brand shoes are everywhere.

But Santee Alley, with storefront names like "Bang Bang Mambo," "Pop U.S.A." and "Venus," gaudy banners and the relaxed strides of shoppers, is not a cheap place to set up shop.

"The rents here are higher than Beverly Hills," says Mark Bronson, owner of Bronson's L.A. Action on the alley. "Up to $25 a square foot (per month). But the traffic is fantastic. There's no better place to be."

Isaac Hamid, 25, owner of the Prestige shop on the alley, says he spends $12 to $15 a square foot for his space -- about in line with better places on Rodeo Drive.

Shoppers seem to enjoy the environment of the alley, clogged as it is with other shoppers, protruding store displays, trundling garment carts and vans. "I come here because I want to come here," sasses one young women shopper, when asked why she shops Santee Alley. Says another Latina, "It is fun to come here."

The clothes in Santee Alley, although stylish, are decidely in the inexpensive range, a tribute to high volume and low overhead. There are $55 suits, $9 dress shirts and many, many dresses for less than $15.

Most clothes appear to be made for the market's low end, although one can spy the jacket or coat that originally hung in a Nordstrom.

Some shops appear to actually make their own clothes on the premises, an arrangement nearly unheard-of anywhere else in the city or in retailing generally.

Most shop owners are foreign. "The Koreans and Iranians are very strong here," says Hamid of Prestige.

The city blocks around Santee Alley have been re-invigorated by the retail success of the alley, and the whole area has become a low-price shopping district.

"Everybody is shopping here, looking for value," says Hamid.

PHOTO : Shoppers at Santee Alley: Traffic is heavy, prices are light

PHOTO : Retail bonanza: Suits for $55, dresses for $9