The old way to start a purse company: come up with some designs and then try to sell boutique and department store buyers on them.
Katie Koprinik’s way: start selling handmade handbags at purse parties, then go online.
Koprinik, a 29-year-old Irvine resident, runs Haleluya Handbag Co. and its haleluyahandbags.com.
“I make all the bags,” she said.
She makes them in her home, where she has an industrial sewing machine. Koprinik says she’s always had an artistic side. Her bags are made with leather and silk insides.
Her motivation: She got fed up with waitressing, which she was doing up until about a year ago.
In a year, she sells about 200 to 300 clutches, hobos and other kinds of bags. They go for about $65 to about $165. Her recently redesigned Web site went up about three months ago.
Next year, Koprinik said she hopes to have a manufacturer make the bags for her.
“I will do a small number of bags,” she said. “There are a small number of girls who’ve developed a little addiction to my purses.”
Most people know about Haleluya,a phonetic spelling of “hallelujah” to make it easier to find online,through word of mouth, she said. Purse parties also pick up around the holidays.
She takes leather and other materials to homes and offices and women design their own purses.
There are also causes, such as HIV/AIDs, child rights and clean water, behind the purses.
“When I sell purses in stores, or online, it will come with a postcard, explaining the cause,” she said.
The postcard will give the buyer a list of things she can do to help the cause. She checks off one and mails back the postcard. Koprinik sends out a free T-shirt. She also plans to design and eventually sell T-shirts and stationery.
Faucets Franchise
Hawthorne-based Fau-cets Galore, which recently opened its first store at Bella Terra mall in Huntington Beach, hopes to have 40 franchises in Southern California in the next three years.
“There are franchises in every industry, but not plumbing,” said Steve Viens, president of Faucets Galore.
The goal is to offer another place to shop for plumbing products besides big home improvement stores or specialty showrooms, Viens said.
Faucets Galore sells 300 kinds of faucets, bathroom sets, handmade bronze sinks and other items. The store sells to the middle market, which Viens says is bigger than the low end or luxury segments.
Viens’ mother owns Hawthorne-based Bob and Marc Plumbing. His family has been in the plumbing business for 50 years.
Viens and his partner, John Reynolds, gathered up about 30 investors to start up Faucets Galore. The investors are architects, accountants, attorneys and other professionals. They also will be working the store,for free.
“We’re all pitching in,” Viens said.
So it could be an architect selling you a sink.
Viens is hoping to sell the franchises to plumbers, who can then offer more service than a home improvement store. The big stores have squeezed plumbers, according to Viens.
Opening a franchise is set to cost about $200,000 to $250,000, he said.
The next Faucets Galore store is set for Los Angeles in December, followed by a Las Vegas store in January. One is under way at the South Coast Home Furnishings Centre in Costa Mesa.
New Stores
Westcliff Drive, the Newport Beach side of Costa Mesa’s 17th Street, has a couple of new stores: Solutions, a jeans, shoes and accessories shop, and Michael Nusskern, a Newport Beach-based women’s designer clothing chain. Michael Nusskern carries brands such as Burning Torch, Ya-Ya and Rosae Nichols. The store is across from Westcliff Plaza in the Ralphs shopping center at Irvine Boulevard. Solutions is in Westcliff Plaza.
Macy’s Parade
Irvine Spectrum Center officially celebrated the debut of Macy’s earlier this month. Macy’s used to be Robinsons-May and converted after Federated Department Stores Inc. bought May Department Stores last year. Festivities included an appearance by Bartolo Col & #243;n, pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and a fashion show.
Generation Gap
Parents of young drivers want to see their kid in a Honda Civic.
That was the No. 1 used car choice, according to Irvine-based Kelley Blue Book, which polled parents of young drivers on its Web site, kbb.com.
Of course, young drivers themselves had something else in mind: a used Ford Mustang.
Kelley Blue Book chose 15 popular used vehicles, which were valued at about $10,000.
Of the top five choices for parents and kids, they only agreed on the Civic. Other cars the kids liked: Jeep Wrangler, Jeep Liberty and the Mitsubishi Eclipse. Parents: Toyota Corolla, Nissan Sentra, Mazda Prot & #233;g & #233; and the Ford Explorer.
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