Shopping in downtown Los Angeles, the new mall alternative

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This smartly styled design gallery opened two weeks ago with an eclectic mix including furniture by downtown designer Tim Campbell, ceramics by Echo Park potter Victoria Morris and made-in-L.A. Weiss watches. “It’s a California edit on everything,” creative director Raan Parton said. One exception: The 1959 Fiat Abarth 750 Spider sitting in the middle of the modern, skylighted space. Here, Drew Lesso walks past the car, which is for sale. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Folding Sunpocket glasses. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Leather goods, hats, ties. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Detail of the 1959 Fiat Abarth 750 Spider.

Alchemy Works, 826 E. 3rd St., Los Angeles. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Custom shelving in Alchemy Works looks great and is local: The design was fabricated by a studio a block away. District Millworks has completed installations for an impressive list of restaurants, including Umamicatassen downtown. The studio also produces furniture for residential clients. 917 E. 3rd St., Los Angeles. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Though it’s fairly modest in size, Poketo quickly established itself as a go-to shop for gifts downtown. Here at the intersection of Cool and Cute, you will find stationery, ceramics, candles and modern crafts. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Chen Chen and Kai Williams mold petite pots into the life-size shapes of avocados, oranges and horned melons ($28 apiece). (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Lostine cutting boards with milk paint accents hang on like art on the wall. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Mice for your tree. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Baskets bring some color to home storage. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Boccie balls with a mod spin.

Poketo is at 820 E. 3rd St., Los Angeles. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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House Industries’ Alphabet Factory blocks. (Bob Chamerlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Jason Wein buys up the nuts and bolts of closed American factories to create furniture and lighting with a pleasingly industrial bent. His business, Cleveland Art, feels part factory, part flea market. Pictured here: a Moto Guzzi motorcycle inside the cavernous shop. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Heavy machinery gears turned into candlesticks. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Lamps with an industrial edge, furthered by old-school Edison bulbs. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Hand-blown glass bowls. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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A 1950s toy truck among the castoffs at the shop. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Foundry letter boxes from the 1850s. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Derrek Rivera adjusts a lamp behind a vintage bike. The bike, which dates to the late 19th century or early 20th century, has wooden rims and tires as well as wooden handlebars, but there is one somewhat modern convenience: an adjustable seat. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Another vintage ride, hung from above. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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The tower to the First Street bridge is reflected in the front window of Cleveland Art, 110 N. Santa Fe Ave., Los Angeles. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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The art gallery scene in Chinatown has ebbed and flowed, but the neighborhood has endured as an entertaining place to visit -- and revisit. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Jennifer Hanna stands among the modern housewares that fill the shop: vases, picture frames, toys and glassware. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Among the draws at Realm: glassware you don’t see in many other gift shops. Antibes glasses with a festive hexagon design are $15.25 apiece. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Dandelion glasses. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Modern dolls make their home in a traditional Chinese porcelain bowl. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Porcelain dog and duck creamers at Realm. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Novelty candles at Realm, 425 Gin Ling Way (off Broadway), Los Angeles. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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The Jazzie Puppy toy from Jellycat stands near blue Chinese porcelain figurines. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Robert Apodaca’s minimalist gallery is loaded with modern design amusements. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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A clever way to display a saddle bag for sale at Fifth Floor. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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At the high end of the designs at Fifth Floor: Jason McCloskey’s Wing chair, an ethereal swoop of bent walnut that sells for $5,500. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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A wider view of the Wing chair. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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At the low end of the gallery’s designs: $15 Fragment vases made with test tubes and wood scraps. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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A Fragment table light, made of remnant wood by Anzfer Farms of San Francisco. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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The turntable is part of a collection of analog machine pillows. Also available: the typewriter. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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A petite boulder planter set. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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The D-Torso assemble-yourself cardboard pig. Fifth Floor is at 502 Chung King Court (off Hill Street), Los Angeles. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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At Hong Kong Import Co., on the walk from Realm toward a different set of shops on Chung King Court, you’ll find a wide selection of inexpensive cloisonne -- metal pill boxes and animal figurines with painted enamel decoration and prices starting at $6. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Cloissonne ornaments too. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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A cloissonne cup at Hong Kong Import, 950 N. Hill St., Los Angeles, (213) 620-9438. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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K&A’s window is filled with flat-packed wooden toys -- like puzzles in 3-D -- that assemble into tall ships, helicopters, the Eiffel Tower and a zoo of animals. Most are $3 to $10. The store’s address pops up on Internet searches as 487 Gin Ling Way, but the better address to use for GPS is 951 Sun Mun Way (off Broadway).

Read our full article on downtown L.A. shopping. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

By Craig Nakano

Nov. 29, 2013 8:35 AM PT

Irony of L.A. No. 467: Holiday shoppers looking to avoid mall madness can find their respite in the heart of the city — downtown Los Angeles. Certain parts of downtown are easier to navigate on weekends, at least during daylight hours. People are fewer. Parking can be easier. Most important: Downtown’s micro-neighborhoods — notably the arts district just east of Little Tokyo — continue to evolve in surprising ways. Here’s a snapshot of some of the newest and most promising spots, with an emphasis on home design.

ARTS DISTRICT

Alchemy Works. This smartly styled design gallery opened two weeks ago with an eclectic mix including furniture by downtown designer Tim Campbell, ceramics by Echo Park potter Victoria Morris and made-in-L.A. Weiss watches. “It’s a California edit on everything,” creative director Raan Parton said. One exception: The 1959 Fiat Abarth 750 Spider sitting in the middle of the modern, skylighted space. 826 E. 3rd St., www.alchemyworks.us.

Apolis. Before Parton opened Alchemy Works, he dropped anchor in the arts district with Apolis, another handsome boutique with men’s clothing, unisex accessories and gifts by local designers. Half of the goods are made within a three-mile radius of the shop, Parton said. Other products — alpaca sweaters from Peru, jute tote bags from Bangladesh — have been created in partnership with artisan coops around the world. 806 E. 3rd St., www.apolisglobal.com.

Poketo. Here at the intersection of Cool and Cute, you will find stationery, ceramics, candles and modern crafts. Petite pots by Chen Chen and Kai Williams are molded into the life-size shapes of avocados, oranges and horned melons ($28 apiece). For kids: adorable masked badger dolls ($38). (Here’s a story we published on the store’s DIY display tables, an idea that could be replicated for a home office desk.) 820 E. 3rd St., poketo.com.

PHOTO GALLERY: Downtown Los Angeles shopping

District Millworks. The single best piece seen during a recent scouting run: the display shelf in Alchemy Works, which turned out to be a custom design by this furniture design studio a block away. District Millworks has completed installations for an impressive list of restaurants, including Umamicatassen downtown. The studio also produces furniture for residential clients. Check out the website, and if you like what you see, set up an appointment to stop in. 917 E. 3rd St., districtmillworks.com.

Guerilla Atelier. The clothing boutique has a store-within-a-store partner in Ron Robinson, the Fred Segal boutique, offering candles, fragrance diffusers and gift books. 821 E. 3rd St., www.guerillagalleries.org.

Hammer and Spear. New and vintage decor blends with sophistication here, where the vibe is part national park lodge, part steampunk den. 255 S. Santa Fe Ave., hammerandspear.com.

Cleveland Art. A few blocks from Hammer and Spear you’ll find the warehouse for Jason Wein, who buys up the nuts and bolts of closed American factories to create furniture and lighting with a pleasingly industrial bent. This location is open Saturdays; on Sundays, you’ll have to head for the expansion store on La Brea Avenue. 110 N. Santa Fe Ave., clevelandart.com.

Rafu Bassan. From any of the previously mentioned spots, you’re just a half-dozen blocks to Little Tokyo, chockablock with Japanese trinket emporiums. If you have time for only one stop, you might want to make it this old standby. Cast-iron wind chimes, porcelain tea sets, ceramic bowls, lacquered serving trays, flower arranging accessories and a mind-numbing selection of origami papers — they’re all here. 326 E. 2nd St., rafubussaninc.com.

CHINATOWN

Realm. The modern housewares shop is loaded with affordable gifts: vases, picture frames, toys and glassware. Antibes glasses with a festive hexagon design are $15.25 apiece. 425 Gin Ling Way (off Broadway), www.realmhome.com.

K&A Co. Across the courtyard from Realm, this shop’s windows are filled with flat-packed wooden toys — like puzzles in 3-D — that assemble into tall ships, helicopters, the Eiffel Tower and a zoo of animals. Most are $3 to $10. The store’s address pops up on Internet searches as 487 Gin Ling Way, but the better address to use for GPS is 951 Sun Mun Way (off Broadway).

Hong Kong Import Co. On the walk toward another set of shops on Chung King Court, you’ll pass this place with a wide selection of inexpensive cloisonne — metal pill boxes and animal figurines with painted enamel decoration and prices starting at $6. 950 N. Hill St., (213) 620-9438.

Fifth Floor. Robert Apodaca’s gallery is loaded with design amusements, from $15 Fragment vases made with test tubes and wood scraps to craftsman Jason McCloskey’s Wing chair, an ethereal swoop of bent walnut that sells for $5,500. 502 Chung King Court (off Hill Street), www.fifthfloorgallery.com.

CENTRAL DOWNTOWN

Kinetescape. Andrew Meieran, proprietor of the Edison bar downtown, has set up his riff on the antiques shop — a collection of obsolete technology and curiosities. The trick is catching the place when it’s open. We’ve had no luck. 655 Spring St.

Angelo:Home. The store is an ever-changing mix of moderately priced furniture, lamps, pillows and blankets, and it makes a concerted effort to incorporate the work of local artisans and craftspeople. Acne Studios clothing store is preparing to open next door, and Urban Outfitters and the Ace Hotel are slated to move in nearby as well. 847 S. Broadway, www.angelohome.com.

Pussy & Pooch. Gloriously indulgent gifts for dog and cat. 564 S. Main St., www.pussyandpooch.com.

Raj Lotus. An accidental discovery amid the office towers downtown. You’ll find inexpensive dhurrie rugs imported from India, dhurrie-upholstered ottomans and small-scale furniture blending painted wood with mother-of-pearl inlays. 900 S. Main St., www.rajlotus.com.

PHOTO GALLERY: Downtown Los Angeles shopping

Nadia Geller Designs. Something of an outlier, at least geographically, but worth mentioning because of its proximity to the restaurant Church & State and the new Urban Radish market. When The Times first reported on its opening, Geller described her shop as a place “where someone could pop in and grab a gift on their way home from work.” Open weekdays and by appointment on Saturday. 1801 E. 7th St. (entrance on Mill Street), nadiageller.com.

@cnakano | craig.nakano@latimes.com

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Shopping in downtown Los Angeles, the new mall alternative

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