Forget ribbon cuttings. The Sept. 30 opening of Nordstrom at Irvine Spectrum Center featured a cosmetic tailgate party and 2,000 shoppers.
Here’s the opening day timeline:
6:45 a.m.: Shoppers line up for the cosmetic tailgate party, where beauty experts offered free makeup and fragrance consultations.
8 a.m.: The tailgate party began under an ice rink tent. Filled to capacity.
9 a.m.: The line to get in Nordstrom forms from the doors to Corner Bakery. Irvine Spectrum Center workers handed out water to those in line.
10 a.m.: Line passes Corner Bakery and wraps past Robinsons-May. More than 1,050 people waited to pile in. Nordstrom parking structure is full.
In all, 2,000 people showed up for the opening. Blake Nordstrom, president of Nordstrom Inc., was on hand. So were other Nordstrom family members.
Two nights prior to Nordstrom’s opening, 1,200 people attended a $125 a head benefit for Laura’s House and the Court Appointed Special Advocates of Orange County.
Next up: Target Corp., which is set to open a store at Irvine Spectrum Center next year.
Bella Terra Done Deal
It’s official.
San Jose-based DJM Capital Partners Inc. has acquired Huntington Beach’s Bella Terra mall, a 48-acre, 777,000-square-foot, dining, shopping and entertainment center for $228 million.
DJM bought the mall, which is in the final legs of a makeover, with GMAC Institutional Advisors.
Sweet!
Wonderland Bakery recently opened to gobs of cookie lovers at the Bluffs in Newport Beach.
Allyson Ames, 20, runs the bakery’s kitchen.
Ames began her culinary career when she was 17, founding Paradise Chocolate Shoppe out of her home. She studies food science at Chapman University.
During Wonderland’s opening weekend, the bakery sold more than 5,000 cookies. One person ordered 300-dozen gingerbread cookies for holiday gifts.
Forget the Store
Some local women entrepreneurs are forgoing the store and selling strictly online.
Take Jennifer Radisay of Laguna Niguel. For five years, she has been selling T-shirts, pants, shirts and mommy-and-me clothes primarily to Orange County moms at butterflykissesclothing.com.
Radisay and her partner Alisha Sullivan decided to open a business online after having a cart at Fashion Island.
“We got a big customer base that way,” Radisay said.
Radisay declined to disclose sales. The business pays the food bill, she said. The partners have no intentions of opening a store. Radisay said she and Sullivan each have two children, and that’s where they want to devote the bulk of their time.
Liquid Petal, based in Mission Viejo, sells designer jewelry, handbags and gifts at liquidpetal.com.
“I don’t carry products you can find in the local mall,” said site owner Michele Bartnick.
Bartnick said she sells items from local designers, including 19-year-old jewelry maker Jillian Albinson. The designers are up and comers, Bartnick said. They may have gotten press in a magazine but aren’t well known, she said. Bartnick is a former marketing and communications director at Ford Motor Co.
Bartnick’s husband, an electrical engineer, takes care of the Web site. Bartnick said she uses online sites such as ladieswholaunch.com to find referrals and to help boost her business.
Brandi Whitaker sells trendy belt buckles at bselfabsorbed.com. Whitaker uses swarovsky crystals and rhinestones to decorate skull and cross bones buckles, dollar signs and crosses. She started her business after a Harley ride to Cook’s Corner in Trabuco Canyon, where she spotted a cool belt buckle that she thought she could spruce up with some sparkle.
Gas React
Gas prices have shifted views on what auto buyers say they’ll get next, according to AutoPacific Inc., an automotive market research company in Tustin.
AutoPacific’s survey, done online between Sept. 16 and Sept. 26, found most respondents plan on buying a more fuel-efficient car next time around. That includes some SUV owners.
“They are thinking smaller, no doubt about it,” said Daniel Hall, vice president of AutoPacific.
About 28% of SUV owners said they plan on buying a fuel-efficient car, according to the poll. About 25% of the drivers with V-8 engines say they will buy a car with a smaller engine.
About 80% said that high fuel prices are “bad for America.”
What do the other 20% think?
They’re thinking that gas prices might decrease demand in the U.S., according to Hall. In Europe, high prices have meant smaller cars, fewer cars per family and less frequent use, he said. There, gas is $5 a gallon, largely due to taxes, he said.
Gas at $4 to $5 per gallon wouldn’t fly here, according to Hall.
The survey also found that more people are looking at hybrids such as the Toyota Prius or the Honda Civic hybrid. But hybrids still don’t make economic sense, Hall said.
“It’s like driving an experiment,” he said. “More than anything else, it’s novelty.”
