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Luxury, Classic Rides Coming to Corona del Mar Show

Most of the local biggies in luxury auto sales are set to show off their newer models along with some 200 vintage cars set to be displayed at the fourth annual Coastline Car Classic auto show on Sept. 9 on the beach in Corona del Mar.

Newport Auto Center is one of the larger sponsors. Other dealers set to be there include Phillips Auto, Sterling BMW, Ferrari & Maserati of Newport Beach and Bauer Aston Martin.

Linda Leonhard, president of the Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce, was headed to Pebble Beach last week to meet with car collectors, vendors and others to round up support for the show.






Flier for Coastline Car Classic: could see big celebrity guest

Some of the locals set to show off their collections are radio man Art Astor, owner of Astor Classics Event Center and Living Automotive and Communication Museum in Anaheim, and Donnie Crevier, who’s bringing some of his cars representing his Crevier Classic Car Co., an auto storage garage and event center in Costa Mesa.

Another big car guy may bring some of his cars to the show. Think of the biggest celebrity car collector you know. But it wasn’t for certain yet. Leonhard said she has to figure out how to get him in and out without him getting mauled by adoring fans.

The event is a charity fundraiser for the Orange County Assessment Treatment Service Center, which works with at-risk youths.


Battery Store

Batteries Plus, a national battery chain with 256 stores, has opened its first store in Orange County.

Franchisee Carl Johnson, operator of the 1,200-square-foot Lake Forest store, plans to open two to three more in the next couple of years, he said.

Johnson bought the rights to open stores in Orange County from Wisconsin-based Batteries Plus LLC.

The store sells all kinds of batteries, including batteries for digital music players, hearing aids, motorcycles, laptops, medical devices, golf carts, scooters and 18-wheelers. Oh yeah, it also sells ordinary AA batteries.

The store sells flashlights and recyclable batteries. It has the tools to change the batteries on your iPod as well.

Johnson is a former computer repair department manager. He said he was looking for a change when a friend told him about Batteries Plus.

Battery sales are $24 billion annually, according to Batteries Plus.


Retail Conference

The International Council of Shopping Centers Inc., based in New York, has moved its Western division “deal making” conference from Palm Springs to the San Diego Convention Center. The conference is set for Sept. 19 and 20.

Everyone in the real estate and retail worlds attend. This year the show is bigger with about 3,000 people, which is why it moved to San Diego.

Keith Eyrich, The Irvine Company’s retail properties president is the International Council of Shopping Centers’ Western division vice president and is on the planning committee.

Nelson Wheeler of Newport Beach-based Strategic Retail Advisors also is part of the 10-person committee.

Sessions include: “Lessons from the Future: the consumers’ future is a matter of choice,” which will discuss technologies in consumer culture, and “the retail design exhibit,” which is where architects showcase their designs.


Free Hemming

The Buckle Inc., a Nebraska chain that sells men’s and women’s clothes, accessories and shoes, opened its first OC store, Buckle, at the Irvine Spectrum Center.

Some of the brands it sells are Lucky Brand, Guess, Big Star, Quiksilver, Roxy, Volcom, Obey and Billabong. Here’s something you don’t often see: Buckle offers free hemming.

A publicly traded company, Buckle has 362 stores in 38 states.


Going Italian

South Coast Plaza is going Italian, promoting its restaurants and luxury retailers in October in partnership with the Italian Trade Commission.

Jewel Court is set to be transformed into an Italian Piazza, where the short movie, “A Dream of Italy at South Coast Plaza,” is set to be shown daily.

The South Coast Village Theater plans to show Italian films.

The shopping center’s restaurants will offer menus and wines from regions in Italy. Exhibits include textiles created by students of the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan, Italian-made shoes shown in international movies and a photography collection.

South Coast Plaza has more than 30 Italian designer boutiques and is a natural for the commission, said Aniello Musella, the Italian trade commissioner and executive director for the New York-based U.S. headquarters.

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