A Personal Message from Rex Edhlund (1/2 of Industry Showroom)

The Space

This is a space I have been around a long time. Dating back to it's time as a produce market in the early days of the Gaslamp Quarter revitalization to when it was the shared design studio of Peter Perisic, principal architect of Perisic Design Studio and Miracle Brand Design headed by local graphic artist and arts organizer Ken Miracle.  Peter has sadly passed away, but he was an incredible person and world-class creative.  A sample of his brilliance can be found at www.peri-scope.blogspot.com.

After their influence the space became a showroom for a medical imaging company (?), then it underwent its radical transformation into the corporate sales office for the Hard Rock Hotel.  THAT was a major change and untold thousands of dollars were put into making the space show-worthy. Local San Diego modern architectural genius, Graham Downes, was the designer and man-responsible for transforming this tomato warehouse into the saucy space it is today.

Thinking about INDUSTRY

I first started toying with the word while publishing the local paper D-Town while officed in the Keating Building.  There was talk of it becoming a boutique hotel (now materialized) and at the time I was very involved with its potential sale and was getting a grip on the idea of a stripped down, highly stylized hotel.  I played with some logos and doodled sketches of a loft-like series of rooms with stark concrete walls juxtaposed with elegant high tech fixtures throughout and tiled showers with a center drain and no separation from the rest of the bathroom.  I fantasized about an industrial lobby and bar area that looked like a dressed up steamship boiler room and adorned with well worn, story-tall gears and other machinations. The sleek world of concrete, of steel, of ADT security cameras; that feeling of industrial security and raw, open architecture blended with hard, raw technology. It would be a place for business and preparation for business.  A place for the industrious.  Industry Hotel.

That was just a creative exercise, but I fell in love with the word Industry. Industry means everything.  Everything except lazy.  Everyone in an industry thinks their industry is "the" industry when the word is spoken.  How can you not love such a proactive, encompassing word?  It's come up in other ideas too.  Industry Event Space is an idea that keeps circling, it's just too exciting. I "heart" Industry.

Hold that thought for a minute.  Let's go back to the space.

Once upon a time, there was Platinum Collections.

Another retail idea was in this space for a while. The bazillion dollars worth of super stylish tenant improvements the Hard Rock Hotel put into the place was, for a short period, filled with a couple of dozen uber high-end companies wares.  All from the pages of Robb Report and JustLuxe.com with the common objective of high ostentatiousness.

So the building becomes a showroom again. Though only for their wares and the merchandise that suddenly-rich people might want. Diamond watches that only the desperate for attention would wear, jet timeshares for those too impatient for global warming to be a concern, Kim Kardashian's Sugar Factory brand Couture Lollipops encased in Swarovski crystals, and a multitude of other things to help you glitz up. A one stop shop for the conspicuously consumptive.  Well, the heady days of suddenly-rich kids that just got their brokers license have fallen to the wayside for now.  It's probably a good thing.  The glitz and shallow life on the backs of our parents hard work and continued payments by our children due to the excess is not healthy, not sustainable, not fun if you have a conscience, not a good example.  Living like you might die tomorrow might just ensure that you will.

Many of the suddenly rich are now suddenly bankrupt, and overpriced lollipops trapped with pieces of sparkly rock are just plain stupid. (In my opinion.)  Don't get me wrong, I love the occasional luxury, but this was a bit much.

It turns out that some HIGHLY questionable antics may have gone on to artificially maintain the facade.  I'm not going to get into that but I have had a ton of people throw out odd rumors like FBI wiretapping, drug stings, and talk of money thrown out an SUV window during a high speed chase.  People have also used the word "douchiness" a lot. That's the past, the shallow have gone to fallow, but the Hard Rock improvements remain.

The Empty Space

After a hasty shutdown the building sat empty. While having a coffee with the leasing agent and buildings neighbor about 8 months ago, I casually threw out the idea of doing a set of office suites. The idea had been swirling around my maybe-I-wanna-do list since the economy started it's tailspin.  The publishing company that served as my primary income at the time was on a kamikaze flight, I was going to need an office again, and it would be nice to be around some upbeat, go-get-em creative types. Years ago, during one of the most productive times of my life, I had the experience of working in a shared art space.  So much came from that loft!  We all were able to feed off of each others energy while sharing contacts and keeping an eye on each others backs. Creative synergy has been a subconscious goal ever since.

Just Looking

Then it all just aligned.  A "client" of mine, permanent client in fact, was starting a Laser Customization and creative imprinting business.  She wasn't going to be able to pull it off as a home-launch, she needed some work space.  Atomic Laser Lab needed to anchor somewhere, so we started looking and during that hunt, the off-hand offer I made for the office space was accepted. HA, and... wha!?!

She fell in love with it the second she walked into the building .  She couldn't help it, even though it was still way too expensive for 2 start up businesses, especially when you add utilities, upkeep, insurance, and a million other little things. Plus, there was too much retail space (great problem huh?), it needed too be more than offices.  It needed to be a cross between Leaping Lotus where a person's merchandise can get their own custom display and Hive workspace where business can be done with the lower costs of shared expenses.  Business has to grow beyond the garage and too much work from home can allow you to lose your social skills.  Sweats are not everyone's business uniform.

REP Yourself

So mashing up the best parts of all the ingredients; the industry, the showroom, the stunning space and the idea of shared collaborative success... it's obviously INDUSTRY SHOWROOM.  A place for creative businesspeople to get down to business, have the privacy they need to focus, the networking a social environment can foster, an impressive space to bring potential clients, and income for direct contact with retail customers.

It's a lot of good ingredients.  In this coming decade of entrepreneurship, sometimes because it's the only viable option, we need to operate smart in our new bootstraps-pulling America (and world).  Shared spaces like this can be a great boost.

Now we just need the right people in the space.  People that have the right mix of product and promotion.

Business is tough right now, we are all in a deep ugly hole since the corporate world ran amuck with it's spineless, heartless ways.  I suppose it's to be expected since small business is the backbone of America. So, does that makes Industry Showroom the ergonomic office chair?

Find out if it's a good fit for you.