Naartjie Custom Kids Inc., which sells hip, colorful, South African-designed clothes for children, is scouting spots in Orange County.
The Burlingame-based retailer already has a store at the Brea Mall and opened one recently at the Shops at Mission Viejo.
OC is a good area for the chain because people care about fashion here, said Gordon Gooding, president of Naartjie (pronounced “Narchee” and named after a small South African citrus fruit).
“They really get our brand,” Gooding said of shoppers here. “The more fashion forward, the better for us.”
South Coast Plaza, Fashion Island and Westfield Shoppingtown MainPlace all would be good spots for Naartjie, according to Gooding.
“We’re looking at all those,” he said.
It can take up to a year to find the right spot, Gooding said. The chain could look at stores outside of malls if a street-front store in Santa Barbara works out, he said. The issue has been heavily debated within the company, Gooding said.
Naartjie’s clothes are bright, trendy, yet “wholesome,” Gooding said. The colors are intense because they’re dyed after being stitched together. The clothing has a South African flair, a blend of tropical and European influences.
Anne Eales, Naartjie’s head of design, lives in South Africa. Naartjie is one of the top brands in South Africa, according to Gooding.
“Ann and I have a passion and a shared vision,” said Laura Diaz, executive vice president for Naartjie who travels to South Africa four times a year.
Naartjie puts out 12 lines a year. The clothes are made in China and South Africa.
Gooding said he discovered the brand while on a trip to South Africa, where his South African wife has family.
He bought the company in 1998.
By the end of this month, Naartjie expects to have nine stores in California and 12 in South Africa.
Naartjie doesn’t have plans to roll out at a rapid rate, Gordon said. The long-term goal, he said, is 300 to 400 stores.
A Little Coaching
New York-based Coach Inc. plans to expand its South Coast Plaza store and others as part of a growth bid driven by strong purse sales.
At lease nine of the company’s most productive stores, including the one in South Coast Plaza, are set to be expanded in 2005, according to Women’s Wear Daily.
Final Purchase
Just when you thought you could find everything on eBay, there’s this: a funeral plot.
A QuickDrop International store in Fullerton is auctioning four burial plots for a local funeral home on the auction Web site.
Costa Mesa-based QuickDrop, which handles payment and shipping for items bought and sold on eBay, opened its first OC location about two months ago. The company, which charges a commission, plans 20 more QuickDrop stores here.
QuickDrop has become a middleman for businesses that want to unload unsold inventory, according to Peter Hwang, owner of the Fullerton store.
In one case, QuickDrop is auctioning off pool tables on eBay. For other companies, it’s selling mannequins and vintage lunchboxes.
“The stuff that goes on eBay stays anonymous,” Hwang said, so businesses don’t have to worry about people finding out they’re blowing out stuff online.
San Jose-based eBay Inc.’s growth has spurred other dropoff chains, including AuctionDrop Inc., Trade Circuit and iSold it LLC, which plans to open a store this month on 17th Street in Costa Mesa.
No Auto Response
Last month’s California International Auto Show in Anaheim, put on by the Orange County Automobile Dealers Association and Southland Motor Car Dealers Association, didn’t exactly send people from the trade show floor to the show room, according to local dealers.
As such, dealers may have to wait a while to see if their efforts,including full-page advertisements in a Los Angeles Times supplement printed for the show,pay off.
At Power Ford in Huntington Beach, buyers have been checking out the redesigned Mustang, according to one salesman. But interest likely had more to do with the buzz around the car than the auto show, he said.
North County Toyota in Anaheim was hoping for a bigger bounce, Edgar Sanchez, general sales manager said.
“We wished that would’ve been the case because it was a really slow weekend,” he said of the weekend after the show, Halloween. That weekend can be either slow or busy, Sanchez said. Most weekends are anybody’s best guess, he said.
“If we knew what a weekend would be, we’d be millionaires by now,” he said.
People who went to the car show may come in during the week, according to Sanchez.
Caliber Motors in Anaheim Hills did well on Sunday, which surprised the dealership, according to Tom Cregg, general sales manager.
“We had the best Sunday we’ve seen on record,” he said.
Some of the traffic might be chalked up to the car show, Cregg said.
“They get an idea of what they want to buy in their mind,” he said.
But this time of year also is a good time for luxury sales.
“It’s very strong in OC at the end of the year,” Cregg said.
