The Closet just opened a giant store at 1800 Newport Blvd. near 19th Street in Costa Mesa.
Last year, the Closet’s flagship store in Costa Mesa at Triangle Square closed and was expected to reopen in bigger digs on the other side of the mall. But the reopening at Triangle Square wasn’t meant to be, as the mall’s new owners wanted to reinvigorate the troubled shopping center with plans for condominiums instead of wooing new retailers.
The Closet, owned by Billy and Kari Stade, sells national and local surf and skate brands such as RVCA, Paul Frank, Diesel, Vans, Nixon and Volcom, as well as Billy Stade’s own clothing brand, Smooth Company. The Closet also has stores in Huntington Beach, Santa Monica and Fashion Island.
Redesigning Choo
Jimmy Choo at South Coast Plaza is set to get a makeover, according to Women’s Wear Daily.
The overhaul is part of an expansion. The shoe shop, owned by London’s TowerBrook Capital Partners LP, is adding five stores on the West Coast in the next two years, bringing the total to 27.
Shoes at Jimmy Choo sell for $200 to $600.
Jimmy Choo’s just opened a second store on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. Its original Beverly Hills store is its top performer.
Not Just Paper or Plastic
Shopping bags now are chic.
Gone are the days of paper or flimsy plastic to carry purchases as Trader Joes, Macy’s and Juicy Couture, among others, pioneer a sturdier bag that is grabbing the attention of customers and competitors.
The trendy bags with store logos are given to customers with a purchase or are for sale at checkout counters.
The bags help the environment and the stores by serving as free advertising.
Shoppers don’t necessarily bring their bags back for a refill but use the bags to carry everyday stuff such as books, school supplies and work papers.
Atwater Branching Out
Nordstrom soon will be carrying local men’s surfwear brand, Atwater of Costa Mesa.
Atwater was founded by former Hurley International surfwear designers Dean Bradley and Scott Madison. Atwater is sold at Jack’s Surfboards in Huntington Beach and Surfside Sports in Newport Beach, among others.
For November, Atwater opened up a “pop-up” store within the Generic Youth store in Costa Mesa.
The building was split in two, creating essentially a store within a store,Generic Youth on one side and Atwater taking up a smaller space on the other.
Generic Youth plans to invite other brands to open pop-up stores in its store.
New Manager for Habitat ReStore
Eddie Miller is the new manager of the Habitat ReStore Discount Home Improvement Center in Santa Ana.
Habitat for Humanity of Orange County operates two Habitat ReStore Discount Home Improvement Centers in OC. The other is in Garden Grove. The stores sell new and used building goods at discount prices. Donors get a tax deduction and avoid disposal costs.
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Toyota of Huntington Beach: opened this month |
Toyota of Huntington Beach
Toyota of Huntington Beach has opened. The dealer, owned by Orange-based Wilson Automotive Group, has been under construction for several months.
Upping the Amenities
Mercedes-Benz of Anaheim is upping the luxe with its courtesy offices, where customers can eat, drink, work on a laptop and have access to a fax machine.
Last month, the dealership offered movie tickets to customers and dinner at an Italian restaurant for customers who spent more than $250 on service.
November Bad for Auto Dealers
November was an awful month for auto dealers in OC. Sales were down 16% for the month from a year earlier, according to the Costa Mesa-based Orange County Automobile Dealers Association’s monthly Auto Outlook.
Total registrations, a barometer of sales, were 10,892.
For the year through November, sales were off 9% from 2006.
Decliners included Acura, Pontiac, Saturn, Subaru, Suzuki, Toyota/Scion and Volvo. Toyota, the top-selling brand, and now the second-largest automaker behind Ford Motor Co., was down 22% to 2,490 autos. Hummer sales have all but stalled, down 38% to 40.
Brands that defied the trend included Mazda, Mitsubishi, Audi and Infiniti. Mazda was up 30.5% to 295 autos; and Mitsubishi was up 12% for 130 autos.
Even luxury dealers suffered. Lexus was down 30% to 591 autos; Mercedes-Benz was down less than 1% to 740 autos; and BMW was down 15% to 544 autos.
Looking at the year through November, Lexus was leading with 9,312 registrations, followed by Mercedes with 9,096 and BMW with 7,828. Lexus is up 1.6% for the year through November, Mercedes is down 7.4% and BMW is up 2%.
