Fans just can’t get enough of movie and television show memorabilia – and that’s why Prop Store LA plans to move to Valencia. Prop Store LA, the U.S. division of London-headquartered Prop Store, has outgrown its 8,000 square feet in Chatsworth where it stores masks, costumes, furniture, models and other items from production sets before auctioning them off to avid movie and television show fans. “It has handcuffed us a bit,” said Brandon Alinger, chief operations officer of the local division. “We can’t just start stacking mask on top of mask on top of mask.” As the items that Prop Store LA auctions off for studios and production companies come in all shapes and sizes – think tiny models, full-sized costumes and even large furniture – they don’t easily stack like DVDs, Alinger said. And with the number of auctions increasing each year as well as the volume of items, it’s time for the company to move to what will be its fourth primary location since it opened in 2007. Prop Store LA, which employs 15 people, just leased a nearly 20,000-square-foot warehouse at 28014 Harrison Parkway. The industrial building with 24-foot-high ceilings will allow Prop Store to stack shelves higher and use the space more efficiently than it can under the 16-foot-high ceilings of its current home. Plus, Alinger said, with the extra room, photographers will have their own space to shoot items for auction catalogues; writers their own area to craft catalogue descriptions; and packers a designated section to bundle up items for shipping. The additional space also means Prop Store will be able to pursue more auctions like its largest to date – last year’s live sale of items from the five-movie Twilight Saga for Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Memorabilia took up 250 pallets, Alinger said, and the event generated $750,00 for Lions Gate, including buyers’ premiums. That is the direction that the auction business has been going in recent years, Alinger said. In turn, Prop Store’s revenue has doubled over the last two years. “The whole thing has just taken off,” he added. “Before, there was a van load (of items) here or there. Now, the average (auction) project is 30 to 50 pallets.” Movie memorabilia tends to fetch higher prices than television shows, but the fans are just as passionate. For example, Alinger said Prop Store’s online auction last year of about 1,300 items from the “Hannibal” series by NBCUniversal series attracted nearly 1,700-plus bidders from 49 countries. “If there’s a fan base for that show, then you can sell the material,” he added. – Carol Lawrence
