53.8 F
Laguna Hills
Tuesday, Mar 19, 2024
-Advertisement-

Boutique Modern Romance Planning Own Clothing Line

Modern Romance was ahead of its time when it opened 15 years ago at Fashion Island.

There weren’t many boutiques back then, according to owner Theresa Johnson.

Now trendy boutiques are all over Orange County.

Johnson said her store appeals to an older crowd, women in their 30s and 40s. She describes her store’s clothing as the “softer side of contemporary.”

“We’ve kind of stayed true to that,” she said.

Modern Romance sells brands such as Butterfly Dropout, Mystique Shoes, Ella Moss, Old Molly sweaters and jackets, Alex Carol Jewelry and Havaianas flip-flops. Big sellers these days are novelty sandals, un-skinny pants and dresses, she said.






Johnson: opened store 15 years ago with family help

Johnson opened her 1,100-square-foot store 15 years ago with a three-year lease. She had help from family members. One of them was her big brother Steve Ortiz, who is the chief operating officer for Louisville, Ky.-based Texas Roadhouse Inc., a restaurant chain.

Johnson said her brother gave her the money as a gift. But Johnson paid him back,with interest, she said.

Modern Romance has helped develop the career of another boutique owner, Erica D. Thomas, owner of Erica Dee in Corona del Mar.

Thomas used to be an assistant manager at Modern Romance. Last year, Thomas expanded in Corona del Mar adding Erica Dee Mens and Erica Dee Kids.

Johnson isn’t planning any new stores, she said. Instead, she’s creating a line of T-shirts and other clothing. She intends to sell her line exclusively at the store next spring and then expand the line to other retailers.


Market Place Opening

Fort Myers, Fla.-based Chico’s Fas Inc. has opened another local White House Black Market store at The Market Place straddling Tustin and Irvine.

Chico’s, which sells upscale clothing and accessories for women, has 285 White House Black Market stores across the country including 17 outlets. The White House idea began in 1985 in Baltimore as The White House, selling white and ivory clothing. It then opened Black Market in 1995 with black clothing and combined the two in 1997.

In 2003, Chico’s bought White House Inc. for $90 million. Since then, the chain now accounts for nearly a quarter of sales, up from 20% in 2006.


Spectrum Skate Opening

Relic Street & Style has opened at the Irvine Spectrum Center near Yard House. Relic sells skateboards, accessories, skatewear and accessories. Brands include Rock Revival, For Love, Obey and Monarchy. This is the second store for Relic. The other is in Rancho Santa Margarita.


Big Deal(ers)

Three Orange County dealers are on Ward’s DealerBusiness’ “Mega Dealer 100” list, which ranks dealer groups according to 2006 sales: No. 15 David Wilson Automotive Group, based in Orange; No. 40 Tuttle Click Automotive Group in Irvine; and No. 54 Piercey Automotive Group in Westminster.

Wilson’s group has 15 dealers and $1.7 billion in 2006 sales. The group is working on opening its 16th dealership in Puerto Vallarta.

Wilson sold 44,847 new autos worth $1.2 billion last year. The group sold 13,428 used ones worth $231 million. Service, parts and a body shop made up the rest of sales.

Fletcher Jones, the Las Vegas-based owner of Fletcher Jones Motorcars, also made the list at No. 16 with a large chunk of sales from the Newport Beach Mercedes dealer.

Fletcher Jones has 13 dealers and $1.6 billion in 2006 revenue. Fletcher Jones Motorcars in Newport accounts for about $600 million of that. Last year, Fletcher sold 19,978 autos, including 9,000 by Fletcher Jones Motorcars.

Tuttle Click, headed by James Click, has 12 dealerships and $756 million in 2006 sales. Sales from new autos were $402 million last year. It sold 14,647 new autos and 7,588 used autos. Used revenue was $129 million.

Piercey Automotive Group, owned by William Piercey, has five dealerships, including Honda World in Westminster. It had $567 million in sales, selling 15,780 new autos and 4,412 used. Sales from new autos were $386 million; used sales were $75 million.

The largest group on the list was AutoNation Inc., based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. AutoNation had $19 billion in sales including $11 billion in sales of new autos and $3.6 billion in used auto sales.


Auto Style

BMW is the best looking luxury sedan, according to Irvine-based Kelley Blue Book’s Brand Watch study of exterior styling. BMW was followed by Mercedes-Benz and Infiniti.

For interiors, Lexus got the best ranking for the luxury sedan category. Lexus was followed by Mercedes-Benz and Infiniti.

Nissan was tops in exterior styling in the non-luxury sedan category, followed by Honda and Toyota. Interiorwise: Toyota, Volkswagen and Honda.

When it comes to luxury sport utility vehicles, shoppers thought BMW had the best exterior styling, followed by Lexus and Mercedes-Benz. On the inside: Cadillac, Lexus and BMW.

For exterior styling on sports cars and convertibles: Porsche was No. 1, Mercedes No. 2 and Jaguar No. 3. Interior went to Mercedes, Porsche and Lexus.

Want more from the best local business newspaper in the country?

Sign-up for our FREE Daily eNews update to get the latest Orange County news delivered right to your inbox!

-Advertisement-

Featured Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-

Related Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-