A car buyer with bad credit?
Rancho Santa Margarita-based Finance Express LLC offers software that lets used car dealers find lenders to finance borrowers who have spotty credit.
The software pulls up a buyer’s credit report and finds matching lenders. A dealer then can choose a lender online and close the deal using the software.
Dealers pay about $300 a month for the service.
Otherwise, used car dealers are left to find lenders themselves or send buyers out to get their own loans, said Michael Flashner, vice president of operations for Finance Express.
Sending away customers means they likely won’t be back, he said.
“What we’ve done is try to make it simpler,” he said. “As we bring on more lenders, we get more dealers.”
Finance Express works with Irvine-based Escrow.com Inc. on title paperwork for cars, easing a concern for lenders.
“Lenders are concerned about title history,” Flashner said.
The company wants to do more for dealers, like offer software for accounting and keeping track of customers. For that, Finance Express likely will add software from other companies to its own offering. And the company is looking to add more lenders that deal with borrowers with good credit, according to Flashner.
Automotive Finance Corp., a unit of Indiana-based Adesa Inc., bought a 15% stake in Finance Express in February. Automotive Finance lends to dealers when they’re buying used cars at an auction or elsewhere.
David Huber, Finance Express’ president, started the company about a year ago. Huber used to own a dealership in Indiana.
Finance Express is looking to hire about 70 sales representatives. It has about 15 so far.
The salespeople are set to work for the company, not as outside representatives, Flashner said. The company now has about 28 workers in all.
Car Buying Law
California’s “Car Buyers’ Bill of Rights” took effect this week.
It was supported by consumer groups and dealers. Some of the provisions:
A side-by-side comparison of prices, with and without the fancy stuff such as anti-theft devices and paint protection.
The right to buy an optional two-day cancellation on autos less than $40,000 and subject to a return fee set by the dealer. Dealers like the return fee because it alleviates worries a prospective buyer might take a car on a weekend spin and then return it.
Dealers must give consumers a copy of their credit score.
South Coast Update
Coming to South Coast Plaza this year: Paper Source stationery, Emilio Pucci, Shu Uemura cosmetics and Pioneer.
Long Beach-based Pioneer Electronics Inc., the American arm of Japan’s Pioneer Corp., plans to open its first U.S. store at the shopping center next month.
Emilio Pucci, a boutique of Italian clothing designer Emilio Pucci SRL, has a new designer at the helm, Briton Matthew Williamson.
Williamson is bringing back the 1960s-era colorful and swirly geometric prints, recently worn by Oprah Winfrey on the June cover of her magazine, O. The store is set to open in October.
Tokyo’s Shu Uemura plans a boutique in the fall. The retailer is known for its eyelash curlers and mink eyelashes (apparently no minks are harmed).
The only other place in OC to get a pair of Shu Uemura hand-sewn mink lashes is at the Tokyo Lash Bar in Neiman Marcus at Fashion Island. The Lash Bar also sells Shu Uemura’s makeup and its synthetic lashes.
Erica Dee Goes Unisex
Erica Dee’s new 4,200-square-foot store for men and women in Corona del Mar is set to open in early August. Erica Dee Mens and Erica Dee Womens will be under the same roof, side by side. The store will carry brands such as Theory (which recently opened a South Coast Plaza store), Trovata, Loomstate and Chip and Pepper.
The opening, originally planned for July, was pushed back by construction delays. The store is within a block of owner Erica D. Thomas’ original store, Erica Dee, which will be transformed into Erica Dee Kids. The kids’ store, also set to open in August, will carry high-end lines from grown-up brands, such as True Religion and Penguin.
Thomas said in an earlier interview with the Business Journal that her boutique was profitable from the start.
“We way underestimated how well the store was going to do,” she said.
Thomas has a fashion background, opening two Anthropologie stores, including the one at Fashion Island. She attended the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles.
