Antiqua, a Los Angeles-based boutique that sells handmade jewelry, opened its first Orange County store at the Irvine Spectrum Center.
Owner Iris Yona said the Spectrum Center first called on her in 2001. A Spectrum leasing agent was a customer, she said.
“She bought a few of my pieces,” Yona said of the agent.
At the time, Yona had just had her son and wasn’t ready, she said.
Then some two years ago, when Yona was ready to expand, she hired a leasing agent. She was thinking Pasadena or Manhattan Beach. Spectrum’s leasing agent heard of her plans and contacted her again. Yona said she knew there was demand since several customers in Los Angeles came from OC.
She said she came to visit the Spectrum and liked it instantly.
“I felt good when I came here,” Yona said.
She said she refinanced one of her other stores to help pay for this one.
“This one was a big investment,” Yona said.
She now has four stores with the fifth coming in El Segundo in September.
Yona started her retail career with a cart on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica in 1999.
Carts, which are relatively low cost, are a common starting point. Once they have proven sales, leasing agents often invite cart operators to open stores.
“I learned all my business skills on the cart,” she said.
A jewelry designer by trade, Yona was born and raised in Israel.
Yona designs about half the jewelry she sells. She uses pearls and other semiprecious stones, as well as silver.
Recruited designers make the rest of the jewelry. A few design exclusively for Antiqua, she said. Designers include Jane Diaz, Israeli-made jewelry by Nava Zahavi, Michal Golan and Alexis Bittar.
Speaking of the Spectrum
Also new to the Spectrum Center, 24 Hour Fitness. The gym is the 32nd 24 Hour Fitness in OC.
Toy Boat Honor
Toy Boat, which sells classic toys, recently was honored as Toy Retailer of the Year in the Western U.S. by the Western Toy & Hobby Representatives Association in Pomona.
Husband and wife Gary and Diane Naumann own the toy store chain, which now has four stores in OC. Toy Boat opened its largest store at 3,000 square feet in Fashion Island last year next to The Children’s Place.
Betty Boutique
Lilikoi, a women’s surfwear boutique, opened its second store at Orchard Hills Village Center, a 125,000-square-foot center in Irvine.
Makenna Burney, the twentysomething owner of the shop, opened her first store at The Bluffs shopping center in Newport Beach in 2004.
Lilikoi (pronounced “lily coy”) carries clothes and accessories from Paul Frank, Da Nang, Free People, Rvca, Rip Curl, Volcom and others. The store was named after Burney’s friend’s baby daughter. Lilikoi is what they call yellow passion fruit in Hawaii.
Other shops opening at Orchard Hills include Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Chico’s and Family Optometry of Irvine.
Sports Cuts
Orange-based Wellington Franchise Systems LP, the area developer of Sport Clips, has opened two shops in the Inland Empire,one at Ontario Mills and the other at The Marketplace on Grove.
Sport Clips is a sports-themed haircut place for men and boys.
Wellington has three stores in OC and expects to open seven more here by the end of the year.
Gregory Fisher, who heads Wellington, describes the shop as “ESPN meets a barbershop.” Haircuts run $14 for boys and $17 for men. “Attractive” hairstylists do the cutting.
Nationally, Sport Clips is expanding. The haircut shop opened 100 stores in 2005 and 2006 and plans to open 125 more this year, including 40 in California. It has 440 stores nationwide.
Glassware Meet and Greet
Simon Pearce, the namesake for the newly opened glassware and pottery store at South Coast Plaza, is set to be at the store Thursday for a meet and greet. A portion of sales that day will benefit Serving People in Need, a nonprofit that assists the homeless in OC.
New at Fletcher Jones
Newport Beach’s Fletcher Jones Motorcars has a new director of fixed operations, Larry Lewis.
He’s in charge of service, parts and collision repair, overseeing 325 people. Lewis reports to Garth Blumenthal, general manager.
Lewis, a resident of Laguna Niguel, grew up in Huntington Beach.
He began working in the auto business at the parts counter in 1983 at Irvine Mitsubishi.
Lewis became manager of the dealer’s parts department in three months, then moved on to oversee the service department.
In 1988, he moved to Irvine’s Tuttle Click Automotive Group.
In 1992, he became director of fixed operations at House of Imports in Buena Park.
He served as general manager of House of Imports from 2000 until 2005.
Lewis then became director of fixed operations for Walter’s Automotive Group in Riverside, where he was responsible for service operations of brands such as Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Audi.
