Knitting Factory to close Hollywood club

The rock ‘n’ roll continues to disappear from Hollywood Boulevard.

All-ages music venue the Knitting Factory is opting not to renew its lease at its current location and looks to shut its doors this fall, confirms the company’s CEO Morgan Margolis.

Concerts that include shows by metal act A Static Lullaby and Scottish indie rockers Frightened Rabbit are currently booked through mid-October at the venue, but barring last-minute renegotiations the Knitting Factory’s final show will be around Oct. 31, Margolis said. A representative from property manager CIM Group declined to comment, but did confirm that the club’s lease is expiring.

“Our lease is up Oct. 31,” Margolis said. “I’ve opted not to extend it. We’re closing that location, but we are not out of the L.A. market.”

Margolis said he was speaking to Pop & Hiss while inspecting a possible new location. Rumors of the Knitting Factory’s closure have persisted for more than a year. Last summer, neighbors' complaints threatened the club’s conditional use permit, which a venue needs to operate, and subjected the club to zoning hearings. The Knitting Factory was able to make its case to the city, but Margolis said the battle cost him $200,000.

Margolis said he’s been aiming to leave Hollywood since before the struggle to keep his permit began. “I’ve been looking two years now for the right space,” he said. “I’m looking all over -- downtown, Silver Lake, Los Feliz, North Hollywood, Studio City. I’ve looked as far as Alhambra.

“I don’t want the community to think that the Knitting Factory is done in Los Angeles,” Margolis said. ”I’m looking, and have a couple deals on the table. If one of these goes through, there may be a full-on lateral move and no shutdown. It may just be a week or two changeover."

But before anyone gets too optimistic, he adds, "Or it could be a year.”

With the Knitting Factory on target to exit Hollywood Boulevard, it will be the second major music-related operator to disappear from the neighborhood. Earlier this summer, Virgin closed its last remaining Virgin Megastore in Los Angeles, which was a short walk from the Knitting Factory (a Hard Rock Cafe will move in to the Virgin Megastore space).

The Knitting Factory opened its doors at 7201 Hollywood Boulevard in 2000, about a year before the official opening of the outdoor mall at the nearby intersection of Hollywood and Highland boulevards.

At the time of its opening, the Knitting Factory was in a complex that housed a movie theater, the Hollywood Entertainment Museum and a Tower Records outlet. Today, the venue shares space with a drug store, a grocery store, a gym and a shoe outlet.

The venue hosts concerts in three different rooms, and over the years has become known for booking punk, metal and underground hip-hop. The company’s first club was opened in the late ‘80s in Manhattan as a home for avant-jazz. That club has since closed, and a new Knitting Factory is set to open in Brooklyn in late August or early September, Margolis said.

Margolis said the Knitting Factory is in the process of opening a club in Reno, Nev. Knitting Factory venues also currently reside in Spokane, Wash., and Boise, Idaho. In addition to venue ownership, Margolis noted the company is launching a management firm, and its booking agency, Knitting Factory Entertainment, has recently worked tours from Mudvayne, Buckcherry and more.

“It just came to the point where we decided that the amount of money we’re losing in that location as we’re branding nationally didn’t work out for us,” Margolis said.

The Hollywood neighborhood has changed drastically since the Knitting Factory opened its doors. A Madame Tussauds Wax Museum is set to open around the corner from the club -- a tourist-friendly stretch of Hollywood Boulevard that includes a Gap, a Hooter’s, an H&M and Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. The streets surrounding the club are routinely closed for film premieres.

"The Hollywood corridor from La Brea to Highland is a nightmare," Margolis concedes. "The numbers have never been good, and the lease is finally up. I may open up a 350-capacity room somewhere and go small."

--Todd Martens

Photo: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[No Kidding]

I liked some of the bands that KF booked, but I was always loathe to go to hollywood, especially the area they are in now. I'm surprised it took this long for KF to realize it wasn't the right location for its operations.

[Taty.]

This is really sad. I love this place, it's intimate, dim, and awesome. It will be missed.

[Paul M. Mock]

GOOD RIDDANCE! That joint has been a thorn in our side in the neighborhood ever since it opened. Noise levels at 2-3AM are unbearable. Public urinating and vomiting in yards along Sycamore is common from the drunks who come out of there! Time to get something fitting in with the new theme of Fresh & Easy and CVS.

[Dee Nyed]

I'm going to miss that place. I've seen so many amazing shows there. Beck, Flaming Lips, Billy Idol, even Christina Aguilera.

If anyone wants peace and quiet - don't live in Hollywood. And if you think the neighborhood's problems are going to go away because the Knitting Factory is closing, you will probably be sadly mistaken. Plus how many businesses in the area have benefited from concert goers dining at their establishments before and after shows, shopping in the area, or bands staying at local hotels.

Thank you Knitting Factory for keeping us entertained and providing a place you could go to in Hollywood that didn't require you hoping the door man thought you were cool enough to get in or require being body-slammed by paparazzi who were stalking the newest Hollywood starlet. The Knitting Factory will be missed!

[ultimatebangirl]

I am really going to miss the knitting factory. I have been to so many amazing shows there and once a mounth it has been my yearly routine to go to club vodka there. Its sad the house od blues is also closing this year. Hollywood is just a ahell of wht it used to be. I am thinking of leaving this town along with the venues

[Kelly]

What I did not like about The Knitting Factory is that it was the main club in town that took advantage of musicians by charging them to play there. I can't even sing and I could have performed at The Knitting Factory as long as I paid them. It was the main club in town that took advantage of struggling musicians by not only not paying them, but charging them to play--ha. They would have been better off auditioning talented local bands or touring bands to play there and promoting the place as a place to be seen. Instead they had all of these little side rooms to pack in as many bands as possible. I could here them screaming as they sang from outside the place. It just did not convey a good image. It looks like the economy is bad and people can't afford to play there now. That is why they are closing. I am not saying that some good bands have not played there because many great ones have. I just think that it is tacky when a club tries to collect money from musicians to play instead of paying them.

[local yoCal]

The "if you don't like it, live somewhere else" crowd just doesn't get it. I've enjoyed a number of visits to the KF and I'll follow them wherever they end up, but I'm happy to see them move if quality of life can be improved for local residents. Why can't the city planners set aside some all night noise zones? There are still some areas in Hollywood that are very low density. The area around KF has a lot of residents and some of those homes and apartments have been there for a very long time. The same thing is true along parts of the Sunset Strip.

[Trey]

If the KF does indeed find a new location, a word of advice to Mr. Margolis. Try...just try to recall the spirit of the original KF in NY. Once upon a time the KF had its own unique, independent brand. Is it really necessary to book every amateur, nu-metal and/or douchebag act-all playing at the same time in different rooms? At this late date, any local or touring act hoping to retain its credibility would no doubt opt for the Troubadour or the Echoplex rather than subject itself the the clusterf*ck that the KF has become. Just sayin'.

[Scott]

I've had some memorable moments at KF Hollywood over the years, but I can count them on one hand. Not going to miss this place one bit.

[MMC]

They booked all kinds of good electronic shows there but I hated the design of the place, it felt like a prison with all of it's grayness and hard angles.

[calrock]

Knitting Factory was a cool venue, don't remember the last time I was there, but it was always a cool spot to find live music.

[Bruce]

Kelly,

Sad to hear you say that about the Knitting Factory charging musicians to play here because it's 100 percent untrue. We do rent the club to some outside promoters who may have that policy-- they rent the place and it's there business. However, the shows booked by the Knitting Factory talent dept. for presentation here never involve pay to play polices. Never did. That's the fact. Bruce Duff-Knitting Factory

[Joey]

I've played at the Knitting Factory for years and never had to Pay To Play. I blame some of the different promoters. I'm not saying everyone's the same but, there are some out there who have bands sell tickets for a spot on the show. I hope they can have some benefit shows to help their cause. If not then this great landmark will disappear.

[Simon Rex]

As a weekly Knitting Factory patron and musician I must say that this news about the closure really sucks big time!! Please do NOT leave Hollywood and Sycamore! I was just there Sunday night to see Ivoryline. It’s a crazy cool area, where skateboarders and musicians thrive, but there is a lot of traffic, I agree.

[Simon Rex]

As a weekly Knitting Factory patron and musician I must say that this news about the closure really sucks big time!! Please do NOT leave Hollywood and Sycamore! I was just there Sunday night to see Ivoryline. It’s a crazy cool area, where skateboarders and musicians thrive, but there is a lot of traffic, I agree.

[Jesse B.]

Shame on Morgan Margolis for not renewing the lease! That joint is a Hollywood landmark and will be deeply missed by musicians all over California if not the world. I have several friends that live on Sycamore Avenue there and they are used to the noise and craziness and fully support it. Yeah, I agree... the majority of people that live in the 1700 block of Sycamore at Hollywood Boulevard are musicians, skateboarders, or actors. I think Jackass's Steve-O lives right there too. They like noiuse and a sweet punk band. It's Hollywood baby!

[Ben B.]

What is anyone who would ever utter the words "Time to get something fitting in with the new theme of Fresh & Easy and CVS" doing living in Hollywood?!

If all the people in LA want is a sprawling suburban shopping experience, it's no wonder that one of the few world class cities in the United States is losing the little luster it ever had. Give it another 5 years, and LA will look like Phoenix.

[Charles E.]

It sucks that such an iconic venue is closing, but over the years they really have become known as a more white-washed live music club, charging musicians to play and booking random bills of bands that were focused more on bringing people in rather than showcasing good music. Maybe now, all the really good live music venues will have more of a chance to be seen...The Airliner, The Mint, Dakota Lounge...these are the venues staying true and bringing out the good music, not just trying to make as much money as possible...

[Julie Lovich]

This makes me sad. I spent some of my best nights at that venue. It has the best layout and coolest security guys. I will truly miss this place.

[Piero]

I remember Morgan Margolis and the staff when I worked there briefly in 2004.

They are a great club, and Morgan, is an excellent manager, and they will no doubt find another place for the knitting factory in the general area.

Something like this is needed. In a City of pre-fab, shiny, ultra-commercial clubs with nightly DJ's playing the latest radio drivel, this club is an entirely organic creature, and one of the last standing great rock and roll venues in the united states.

And to the residents who complain about the noise?
Please.
You live on Hollywod BLVD.
Get a grip or move to Pasadena. seriously.