THE STORY OF LIZ’S ANTIQUE HARDWARE AND THE LOFT AT LIZ’S

Thirty years ago Liz Gordon opened Liz’s Antique Warehouse in Chicago, after having met a picker by the name of Peter in an alley.   He invited her to visit his 4000 square foot warehouse filled with every inanimate object one could imagine.  Strewn all over the floor, cascading out of barrels and drawers were thousands of pieces of hardware for doors, windows, and furniture.   A light bulb went off in her head…”if I organize all this stuff I think it could be a gold mine.”  As it turned out in lieu of gold, it was brass, iron, bronze, and a myriad of other metals encompassing 150 years of design.  Liz bought out the contents of that warehouse from Peter the picker and proceeded to create a department store for antique dealers and home restorers.

After seven years the landlord walked in to terminate the lease.  The neighborhood had become trendy and the loft craze in real estate had begun.   That same day her boyfriend was moving to San Diego.  Six months later, Liz liquidated every other category in the warehouse except for the hardware, shipping out fifty, 50-gallon drums to California.  She eventually made her way to Los Angeles where she opened Liz’s Antique Hardware on La Brea, in 1992.

She took up residence in the upstairs loft.  The commute was short to go to work, just down the back stairs. Finally after many years, she purchased a home vacating the loft as a residence.   Many years previously she dreamt of having an art gallery. Finally she was able to make her dream come true.  In 2007 The Loft at Liz’s was born.

Liz curates shows thematically.   The themes touch on a variety of subjects from the most mundane such as shapes as in the September 2008 show “Linear Motion” to environmental issues in the annual summer show “Diverted Destruction Part 3”.  Both Liz’s Antique Hardware, and The Loft at Liz’s are open Monday-Saturday 10am-6pm.

For more information, to schedule an interview with Liz, or for media relations, please contact:
Shawni D.  - Gallery Manager/Assistant Curator/Marketing and PR
Shawni@theloftatlizs.com
(323) 939-4403 x 6

Liz’s Antique Hardware
The Loft at Liz’s
453 S. La Brea Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 939-4403

The Loft at Liz’s is a unique gallery space that strives to provide support and exposure for emerging and established artists and artisans from California and beyond. It is our goal to provide a venue that fosters an open dialogue between eclectic and diverse points of view, ideologies and experiences.

Occupying the space above Liz’s Antique Hardware, the Loft acts as a gallery, showroom for new and vintage furnishings, as well as location rental. Currently located in the historic Miracle Mile district of Los Angeles, the hardware store was born in 1979 when Liz happened upon a 4000 square foot warehouse in Chicago filled to the brim with objects culled by a local picker from garage sales, abandoned buildings, and flea markets. Liz purchased the contents, and with her keen eye set to work organizing the haphazard menagerie into a successful wholesale hardware department store. In 1992 the business relocated to Los Angeles, where Liz’s Antique Hardware remains a staple for the Southern California antique and interior design community.

Like an artist in residence, Liz lived above her store for 12 years. In 2004, she bought a home, and the loft evolved into its current incarnation as a creative hotspot. The New York style loft space features artists from around the world and welcomes work in all media. Like the Liz’s Hardware, the Loft will always be a treasure hunt – a place to find hidden gems, fine art, jewelry, and design objects.

www.lahardware.com