Saxy L.A. :Look through L.A.’s phone directories...
Saxy L.A. :
Look through L.A.’s phone directories and you can find Paris Designs, the St. Louis Bearing Company, Brooklyn Bagel Bakery, Milano Fashion, Phoenix Auto Parts and countless other firms with outsiders’ names.
Then there’s Peter LaPlaca, who proudly calls his musical instrument business L A Sax. L.A.’s name, he says, “is easy to remember, hip and quickly identified as a USA product.”
What does it matter that L A Sax is based in Barrington, Ill.? “We thought of ‘Chicago Sax’ but we didn’t like it as much,” LaPlaca explained.
Sure, the name has caused confusion, such as the time a Tel Aviv merchant couldn’t understand why his shipment was flying out of O’Hare Airport and not LAX.
But while some negative-thinkers may associate the City of Angels with smog, earthquakes and/or crime, LaPlaca associates the L.A. name with big sales in Asia and South America.
And how are sales for L A Sax in L.A.?
“Actually we do more business in Florida,” LaPlaca said. “Perhaps the name doesn’t seem as alluring and charming there [in L.A.]”
Next year, L A Sax will celebrate its 10th birthday in conjunction with a trade show in the Southland. “We expect 1,500 guests, including some movie stars,” LaPlaca said.
Site of the party?
Anaheim.
ONLY IN L.A. BUYERS GUIDE: Always seeking interesting items for our readers, we offer (1) a computer with a “free printer” that costs extra, and (2) a house, spotted by Steven Morris of Torrance, that you can evidently buy more than once.
HE’S NO THUNDERBIRD FAN, APPARENTLY: A colleague reports he saw a 70ish man, with somewhat shabby clothes, walk into a Trader Joe’s in Tarzana and ask for B&G; merlot wine.
Shown a bottle, the shopper asked, “Got anything less expensive?” The clerk responded, “Sorry, $3.99 is about as cheap as we go.”
The shopper bought the bottle, walked outside and eased himself into a Mercedes-Benz S500 coupe (sticker price: oh, around $92,000).
Our colleague added: “And that, goes the old saw, is how the rich got that way.”
miscelLAny
After hearing speeches by six Monroe High students, the L.A. Unified School District voted Monday to boycott foreign products made with illegal child labor, including Pakistani soccer balls. During a light moment, board member David Tokofsky noted that all six Monroe students were female and said: “I think it would be politically incorrect for us to call this a boycott. It’s more of a girlcott.”
