The Flip Side: East Coast Cool Can Sell in L.A.

While businesses in New York ranging from the Los Angeles Top Co. to the Malibu Pet Hotel attempt to cash in on the cachet of California names, a finger walk through the White Pages of the Los Angeles telephone directories indicates that the reverse is at least as common.

Listings in the Los Angeles phone book show that “New York” has cachet in Southern California. The names of no fewer than 52 businesses in the central L.A. phone book begin with “New York.” Another 14 are listed in the West Side book.

As with the California names in New York, many of the Los Angeles businesses using “New York” in their names are clothing stores, suggesting that among apparel buyers the clothes may be more appealing if they’re associated with the other side of the continent. “New York Surprise” on South Los Angeles Street turns out to be a women’s clothing store. Others include New York Mink on Olympic Boulevard, New York Fashion in Hollywood and New York Pants on Crenshaw Boulevard.

But the listings also suggest that the New York name may help in the marketing of everything from doughnuts to dentures as well. The L.A. phone book lists the New York Bakery, the New Yorker Bakery, New York Pizza and New York Dental Ceramics. There is also Manhattan City Bowling Supplies, a hat store called Manhattan Hattan and the Brooklyn Bagel Bakery.

Calls to a few, however, suggest that use of “New York” isn’t a guarantee of business longevity or success. An employee at the parent firm that owned two firms listed in the L.A. white pages, New York Feather Co. of California and New York Foam Sales, said the company has gotten out of both the feather and foam businesses.