Lamborghini Orange County jumped one of its biggest hurdles to opening a dealership on Pacific Coast Highway in Newport Beach: the blessing of the California Coastal Commission.
The approval puts the dealership on track to get started on permits and construction, perhaps by June, said Vik Keuylian, owner of the dealership with his sisters, Astrid, Nora and Sossi.
Lamborghini OC’s 20,000-square-foot, two-story dealership is planned for 2244 W. Coast Highway near the Holiday Inn Express. Keuylian is targeting a late spring 2009 opening.
The Keuylians’ original Lamborghini dealership is at 2441 S. Pullman St. in Santa Ana. The family bought the building, which it had been leasing, last year for $9 million. The buy included extra space for a service department and expanded the dealership from 18,000 square feet to 36,000 square feet.
The OC dealership is the top selling Lamborghini dealer in the nation.
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Vik Keuyliuan, Lamborghini: Newport Beach dealership got Coastal Commission approval |
The Keuylians have a few other projects in the works. Vik Keuylian bought land in Calabasas, right next to a Ferrari dealership, where the family plans to build a Lamborghini dealership. The two-story showroom will have a three-story glass tower that will showcase cars.
It already has a 4,000-square-foot dealership in Calabasas that opened in September. That spot will sell used Lamborghinis once the new showroom opens, Keuylian said.
“Calabasas is a big deal for us,” he said, to try and break Ferrari’s dominance of the market.
In OC, the Keuylians are building an Audi dealership in Santa Ana. It will move its current Audi dealership, which shares space at the Santa Ana Auto Mall with Volkswagen as Commonwealth Volkswagen-Audi, to the new showroom. The Audi dealership will have 22 service bays and the Volkswagen operations will absorb the vacant space.
The Keuylians bought Commonwealth Volkswagen-Audi, which was founded in the 1960s, this past summer for an undisclosed price. Lamborghini is part of Germany’s Volkswagen AG, which also owns Audi.
All of these projects are slated to begin around June, he said.
Even though Lamborghini customers are well off, the economy is having a slight effect on sales, Keuylian said.
“People are still cautious. They’ve got to think twice,” he said.
But he said he’s hopeful that by the time the showrooms open in 2009 that the economy will have rebounded.
Glabman Furniture Store
Brian Glabman recently held a big blowout sale and closed Glabman Furniture in Costa Mesa, all the while working on a new idea,a more upscale version of his fourth-generation family furniture store.
The 10,000-square-foot store, Glabman Home, opened recently in West Los Angeles. Glabman intends to open an OC store later on.
The new store sells high-end furnishings in 16 “finished rooms” and is focused on services.
Customers can get help on architectural planning, construction supervision and interior design.
The store has a gift and accessories service boutique within the store. It sells items such as books, ceramics, lamps and candles.
Costa Mesa’s Glabman Furniture Inc. has three stores in Southern California, all of which are expected to get the new design.
The company was started in Chicago in 1899 by Glabman’s great grandfather. Many of Brian Glabman’s cousins and uncles are involved in the furniture business as manufacturers and upholsterers.
South Coast Openings
South Coast Plaza opened a 2,600-square-foot Oscar de la Renta boutique in February. South Coast Plaza signed the boutique as an exclusive to OC, which means it can’t open another boutique in OC. The shopping center has eight other stores opening this year so far.
Rolex, the first U.S. flagship store, will open in April. The store design will be similar to its stores in Rome and Tokyo.
Watchmaker Piaget is a West Coast exclusive and will open in June.
Food Network chef host Michael Chiarello is opening a NapaStyle specialty foods and kitchen goods store in May.
Canali, an Italian menswear store, is opening in April.
AG Adriano Goldschmied, which sells jeans, is opening this month.
Calvin Klein, a men’s and women’s clothing boutique, is opening in April.
Jeweler Harry Winston is opening in July. Harry Winston, NapaStyle, Canali, AG Adriano Goldschmeid and Calvin Klein have all signed on as OC exclusives.
