Storefront Report: Echo Park to gain a fitness center and lose a street art supply store

Cross Fit training center opening on Alvarado (left); Montana L.A. spray paint store closing on Sunset

Echo Park will see the opening of a Cross Fit training center at the base of a loft-style apartment building on Alvarado Street and the closing of Montana LA, the Sunset Boulevard “paint boutique” that catered to street artists with high-end spray paint and other supplies.  The  Montana L.A. store with the jet-black facade, which hosted several art openings since it opened in middle of 2010, will close after today, according to employees and a statement posted on the store website.  The closure is part of a plan by the owners of Montana L.A. and 33third, a Westside spray paint and art supply store, to consolidate operations and open in a larger location.

Meanwhile,  Alvarado Street near Sunset Boulevard, a Cross Fit training center plans to open in the ground floor of the four-story Echo Lofts building, which was completed in 2010  Officials at Cross Fit could not be reached for comment but a leasing agent said a fitness training center would occupy the entire, approximately 4,100-square foot ground floor. Last year, there was talk that a new vegetarian restaurant would open up in the building but apparently those plans never materialized.