At GirlyChic, a new store at The Block of Orange, girls can get their hair done in a glittery updo, record a song at the store’s studio and make their own T-shirts.
Of course, there also are clothes to buy. But co-owner Cherlynne Casabonne and partner Linn Pak hope the fun stuff drives business.
You can make a shirt that says “I’m hot” or some other bold statement, and then add rhinestones, Casabonne said. In the recording studio, you can pick out a song, put on headphones and put down a version that’s burned to a CD. Recording a song costs $10, or three for $25.
Casabonne said she and Pak spent more than $100,000 for the sound studio alone. The partners have backgrounds in apparel design.
Pak used to work with Mattel Inc., making accessories for Malibu Barbie. Casabonne has a wholesale business in Orange called Deal With It Apparel.
The 1,410 square-foot store is geared toward girls 5 to 13. Their brothers might be interested in the store’s design lab, where they can create their own shirts, according to Casabonne.
“Boys love to tinker on computers,” she said.
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Picasso’s 25th anniversary necklace: collection at South Coast Plaza |
The owners also plan to do commercial T-shirt making.
Casabonne said she long has wanted to open a store and plans another soon. The partners have been looking at the Irvine Spectrum Center, she said.
The Orange store is in the “anchor F” area, a 150,000-square-foot section that has been empty for years but now is starting to fill up.
Garden Guru
Gardening author P. Allen Smith is set to be at South Coast Plaza on Saturday to sign books and talk about how to spiff up your outdoors with plants and flowers. He’s part of the 16th annual Spring Garden Show, a big draw at South Coast. About 75 vendors are expected to share their gardening wares and know-how.
Picasso at Tiffany’s
Paloma Picasso, Pablo Picasso’s daughter, plans to show a special collection of jewelry at Tiffany & Co.’s South Coast Plaza store May 27 through June 26 to mark her 25th year selling through Tiffany.
Picasso began her jewelry career designing rhinestone bikinis for Paris’ Folies Bergeres production. Later, Yves Saint Laurent commissioned her to make jewels for his Paris shows. She began selling her jewels with Tiffany in 1979.
College Job
Allyson Ames started Paradise Chocolate Shoppe out of her home when she was 17 years old and won all sorts of accolades, including the Culinary Institute’s Best Teen Chef in America award and one from the Business Journal for the Women in Business up and coming category.
Now 19, she’s getting ready to open her own store in July at The Bluffs in Newport Beach.
Wonderland Bakery, whimsically decorated, including a yellow brick path that runs through the store, plans to sell goodies such as gourmet cookies and caramel apples. There also will be chocolate dipping stations.
Ames plans to work in the kitchen while she studies food science at Chapman Uni-
versity.
Bits and Pieces:
Buffalo Exchange at The Lab in Costa Mesa plans to donate sales proceeds on April 23 to the Surfrider Foundation, based in San Clemente … Laguna Hills Mall food court now is a hotspot for wireless Internet access, for a price. O.C. Hotspotz of Rancho Santa Margarita provides access for $3.95 an hour, $7.95 a day or $29.95 by the month Notebookshop.com opened its first OC store at Crossroads in Irvine. The store sells and repairs portable computers.
Online Auto Sales
AutoNation Inc.’s Power Toyota of Irvine made the top 10 of a list of the country’s 100 Internet dealerships done by Wards Auto.
Power Toyota ranked No. 8 by selling 2,301 new vehicles and 399 used ones in 2004, according to Wards.
The dealership has five designated Internet salespeople. Its Web site is designed specifically for Internet sales.
As a group, AutoNation leads in Internet sales, according to Wards. AutoNation dealers generate Internet sales by being listed on sites such as Los Angeles-based CarsDirect.com and that of Irvine-based Autobytel Inc.
Nationally, Idaho’s Dave Smith Motors ranked No. 1 in online sales, moving 5,616 new vehicles and 1,117 used ones over the Internet.
The dealership’s Web site isn’t much to look at. But Dave Smith Motors does volume business.
A Dave Smith Motors Internet salesman said the dealership sells “800 to 1,000 rigs,” both Internet and otherwise, a month.
Other OC dealers on the list: Power Toyota Buena Park, No 23; Power Nissan Irvine, No 24; Fletcher Jones Motorcars in Newport Beach, No. 32; House of Imports in Buena Park, No. 62; Power Honda in Costa Mesa, No. 72; Costa Mesa Infiniti, No. 99.
Irvine-based Tuttle-Click Automotive Group also is one of the top selling dealer groups on the Internet, selling 1,575 autos online.
