Lola Rouge, one of the first hip boutiques to sprout up on Costa Mesa’s trendy 17th Street, has gone big time.
Last week, Lola Rouge opened its second store, this one at Fashion Island in Newport Beach.
Debbie Askew, who owns Lola Rouge with her sister, Sandy Johnson, said she wasn’t looking to open another store. But then Fashion Island’s leasing managers came calling, she said.
Lola Rouge sells clothes, jewelry, shoes and bath and body products. Askew, 25, describes the red-walled store as “girly” and “fun.”
The Costa Mesa store, which opened about two years ago, has been doing well enough that it’s expanding from a 1,600-quare-foot space into 2,600 square feet next door. Askew said she and her sister aren’t planning any more stores.
“That’s it for now,” she said.
Speaking of Fashion Island
Avitatt, a wood and leather furniture store, is set to open at the Newport Beach shopping center this spring. Avitatt has two stores in Del Mar and San Diego.
Yours Only, which sells silver jewelry and engraved gifts, is opening a Fashion Island store. Yours Only earned its spot after operating as cart business at the center.
Two stores are opening for the holidays: Macy’s Holiday Lane and the Art of Christmas.
Ozuma, a Japanese restaurant, is expected to open in December.
IKKS, a French clothing, shoe and accessory store, is slated to open its first U.S. store by Thanksgiving. The IKKS store plans to only sell items for women and kids at Fashion Island. It sells a men’s line abroad.
Some recent expansions at Fashion Island include Restoration Hardware, Victoria’s Secret, Anthropologie and Caswell-Massey, a bath and body shop.
Anthropologie got too big for its britches and is expanding into a bigger space next door. The store has moved to a temporary spot where it will be for about six months, store manager Marci Fosse said.
The bigger store is set to have new cash registers and fixtures and more open floor space, she said.
“This store is one of the older ones,” Fosse said.
When finished, the Fashion Island store is expected to be the “most beautiful” of the Anthropologie lot, she said.
Design Lab
The Lab in Costa Mesa is hosting the invitation-only Orange County Design Collective, showcasing clothes from Orange County’s surf, skate and other action sportswear makers on Dec. 3.
Designers include Irvine-based Billabong USA and its Element brand, Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc. and smaller brands such as The Amerikan Project and Mada, both of San Clemente.
Designers from the companies are creating outfits that are set to be sold in a silent auction. Part of the proceeds will go to a local charity, America Works for Kids, a mentoring program for foster children.
Last year about 1,200 designers, merchandisers, presidents, fashionistas and the like attended the show, said the Lab’s Julie Shumaker, organizer of the event. The Lab shoots for 800 people. The event is held in the Lab’s “living room” area, the common area of the shopping center.
Local surfboard shapers plan to work with local artists to create one-of-a-kind boards to be auctioned off at the event.
Some of the Lab’s eateries providing chow for the evening include The Gypsy Den, Memphis and Native Foods.
The Lab’s plan is to take the designs on the road to museums across the country, Shumaker said. The event has been about two months in the making, she said.
Hybrid Lexus: Now April
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Lexus hybrid: no cancellations at Tustin Lexus |
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Toyota Motor Corp. has pushed backed the debut of the Lexus sports utility hybrid, the RX 400h, giving the automaker more time to meet expected demand.
Originally slated to be out in December, Toyota then pushed the hybrid’s debut to February. Now April 15 is the day the vehicle is set to go on sale at dealers.
Demand is high, said Dave Rios, sales manager at Tustin Lexus. Dealers nationwide have more than 9,500 confirmed presold orders for the 2006 RX 400h.
Rios said prospective buyers aren’t upset about the later sales date,at least not enough to cancel their orders. Hybrids are the future for Lexus, he said, and they’re what many customers want.
