Cheap luggage and off-brand tennis shoes hardly seem like foundations for an up-and-coming business that makes millions selling sexy Santa outfits, revealing Countess Draculas, and other exotic costumes and lingerie.

But after getting their start in downtown L.A.’s gritty swap meets, Mike Tsai and his family are grossing some $90 million annually with Leg Avenue, an intimate apparel wholesaler based in the City of Industry.

“We started at the indoor swap meet on Fourth Street downtown in a 30-by-10-square-foot area. I remember the first day we were at the swap meet; our sales were only $200,” said Tsai, a Taiwanese immigrant. “We didn’t know that Leg Avenue would become a brand.”

Leg Avenue only sells a fraction of the merchandise that Victoria’s Secret and Frederick’s of Hollywood do, and doesn’t have world-famous models like Heidi Klum hawking its wares.

But the wholesaler has carved out a niche in the competitive lingerie world, selling a wide assortment of moderately priced exotic costumes in addition to a broad line of lingerie. Heady growth prompted a recent move to new, 150,000-square-foot headquarters.

The wholesaler’s Web site features a costume “book” filled with exotica, including an evil queen in fishnet stockings and a pirate’s first mate who would stand out even on the Black Pearl. The site, aimed at retailers, also features standard lingerie items.

Tsai was still in school when his parents emigrated from Taiwan in the early 1980s and the business got started. He helped out after school and on weekends, but later took a more active role. In 1990, Tsai and his sister came up with the idea of designing and selling hosiery and fashion socks manufactured in Taiwan through family connections.

“I was working at trade shows at the time and customers were telling me what they wanted,’ said his sister, Amy Tsai. “First, they told me that no one was making color fishnets so we did. Once we were selling the fishnets, people started asking for fashion-striped tights. The market was open.”

The company made its next big move in 1996, when the Tsai family purchased its first building, a 21,000-square-foot structure at 300 E. Fifth St. in downtown Los Angeles. At the same time, the company moved heavily into wholesale and started branching out from lingerie to Halloween costumes a business that has greatly expanded.

The company’s original catalogue only had 12 items in it. Today, it has about 700 different costumes alone, from a “storybook” line to more modern exotica based on firefighting. Prices start at $10 and top out at not much more than $100. The company makes about 50,000 garments a week, with 1,500 packages mailed daily to retailers.

Lucky or not, the company appears to have found a successful strategy. “Lingerie right now, as far as apparel goes, is a pretty good part of the retail industry,” said Jackie Fernandez, a retail consultant and partner at Deloitte & Touche. “I think for a smaller company the product line needs something to differentiate itself from its competitors.”

Over the past year or so, Leg Avenue has attracted some attention. It’s Halloween lingerie was featured on the “Best Damn Sports Show Period” and the company hosted a Super Bowl party in Las Vegas featuring what else leggy models wearing its skimpy apparel.

Next up, Tsai plans to introduce a line of accessories such as shoes and wigs, similar to what Victora’s Secret has done.