LOS ANGELES, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Under the leadership of Mayor Villaraigosa, this is the first year Los Angeles will participate in Fashion’s Night Out, the unprecedented global initiative to celebrate fashion and boost the industry’s economy. Shop LA will raise awareness for Angelenos to shop locally, since every ten dollars in sales tax generated within Los Angeles, the City receives a dollar that goes towards services. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa joined by local designers, neighborhood activists and small business owners,yesterday (Sept. 1) announced two city-driven programs — Fashion’s Night Out and Shop LA — that will spur consumer spending and generate revenue for the City of Los Angeles.

“From 30-10 to hiring more police officers to making Los Angels more business friendly, jobs creation is truly at the crux of everything we do in the City,” Mayor Villaraigosa said. “I am proud to announce two new programs driven by the City – Fashion’s Night Out and Shop LA – that will drive consumers to all the independent as well as large retailers in every pocket of our thriving, diverse City.”

Fashion’s Night Out is an unprecedented global initiative to celebrate fashion, restore consumer confidence and boost the industry’s economy in cities across the world on September 10th from 6pm – 10pm. Under the leadership of Mayor Villaraigosa, President of Public Works Cynthia Ruiz and the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Business Policy, the City of Los Angeles will participate for the first time in Fashion’s Out.

From Abbot Kinney to the Beverly Center to the Fashion District, over 300 large and small retailers will participate by offering in-house fashion shows, creative give-a-ways and sales to promote consumer spending in an industry that already generates $5.7 billion dollars in direct sales for the City a year.

At the press conference, the Mayor unveiled the Fashion’s Night Out billboard located at the entrance of the Beverly Center facing La Cienega Boulevard. The Mayor also toured the newly opened stores in the mall, the recently built Capital Grille that employs 100 people and the construction site for the new Forever 21. The Beverly Center employs 2,300 people including parking, retail, restaurant, security, and management staff.

Mayor Villaraigosa also announced Shop LA, a year-long effort to encourage Los Angeles residents to do their shopping, dining and other spending within Los Angeles city limits to generate significant and much-needed revenues for the City.

Sales tax constitutes the 5th largest source of general fund revenue for the City of Los Angeles and is projected to be $292 million for this fiscal year. For every ten dollars in sales tax generated within Los Angeles, the City receives a dollar that goes towards services such as public safety, libraries, park and recreation programs and animal shelters

“The concept of Shop LA is brilliantly simple: it’s really about slightly changing your habits,” Mayor Villaraigosa said. “This small change will have large implications for our City’s revenue.

For more information about Fashion’s Night Out and Shop LA, go to fno.lacity.org and www.shoplacity.com.