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JAN-AL CASES
By Jonathan Widran
C
elebrating its 30th anniversary this year, East Los Angeles based
Jan-Al Cases is a one-stop reusable packaging source for cases,
custom welded parts and crates.
Long popular in the music industry with everyone from superstar artists
touring the globe to working musicians getting to their next club gig, the
company has received countless accolades over the years for its stellar
customer service and the manufacturing of durable, protective and long
lasting ATA touring cases for wardrobe, backline, racks, production,
video screens, lighting
and rigging, pro audio and
tour supplies.
Jan-Al’s mission, simply
stated, is up front on their
home page: “Equipment is
our business. Customers
are our reason for being.
We can meet your packaging
needs.”
Jan-Al founders, Jan
and Muffie Alejandro, met
in Northern California
where they ran a high-profile
rehearsal studio. Jan,
a veteran backline tech for
everyone from Jackson Browne to David Bowie and Iggy Pop, had worked
in the instrument rental business and Muffie had worked for a prominent
music manager.
They moved to the Silverlake area of L.A. where, Jan says, “Our factory
was our garage and our office was our son’s nursery. The landlord
made us stop running our machines, but came back two hours later with a
change of heart, because he says that Silverlake is where Disney started
out. He was happy to hear we were looking for an industrial space.”
Jan-Al took off when the Alejandros moved their operation to the
nearby City of Commerce. They had a built-in clientele from Jan’s connections
as a roadie, as well as satisfied customers from their previous years
of selling and designing cases. Their manufacturing is now based in a
10,000 square foot facility in East L.A.
Muffie says, “We marketed our case company as the one that provided
great quality and customer service. We addressed a lot of existing problems
by creating custom built cases that were ergonomic and built to fit
the work style of the user, not simply building a case that fit the equipment
but that also made efficient use of space in a van or truck. As the industry
evolved, people became more concerned with truck packs and safety and
ergonomics were at a premium. Jan-Al was part of all that.”
Citing a catastrophic example of a loaded truck on a Michael Jackson
tour that tipped over due to poor weight distribution, she adds, “As a case
manufacturer, we pay attention to how we design cases so that when they
load, the truck pack is secure. We dimension the cases so that they fit
nicely with each other and the load is not shifting all over the place. When
we deal with younger artists looking for custom cases, we have to ask
them the appropriate questions. It’s not just about whether the case will
fit through the door of the club, but whether it will fit properly in the trailer
someday when they’re on the Vans Warped Tour.”
The company’s website show the range of custom cases Jan-Al build
for their musical and industrial clients in many fields: Aerospace, A/V Cinema,
Baseball, Briefcases, Toolkits & Portfolios, Catering, Chain Motors,
Console Cases (they have designs on file for virtually every console from
every manufacturer), Convention Cases, Entertainment & Video Cases,
iMac Case, Isolation Cases, Jan-Al Pro Audio, Kiosk Cases, Monitor
Case, Music Cases, Plasma Cases, etc. There are even links to cases
they have designed for the L.A. Dodgers and L.A. Kings.
In addition, Jan-Al is the only case company called upon by the Airline
Transport Association (ATA) to serve in an advisory capacity.
Another key list on the site shows the range of superstar recording and
touring artists who have benefited from Jan-Al’s custom cases including the
Rolling Stones, Madonna, Prince, NY Philharmonic and Paul McCartney.
Jan-Al will soon launch two updated sites, http://JanAlcase.com and
http://rackmountcity.com, touted as the most complete online rack accessory
supplier in the industry.
Contact Jan-Al Cases, 800-735-2625, jan@janalcase.com
16 November 2013 musicconnection.com