The 17th Street strip on the border of Costa Mesa and Newport Beach has nurtured another tenant for Fashion Island: Toy Boat, a seller of classic toys.
Lola Rouge, another 17th Street store, recently opened at Fashion Island.
Toy Boat plans to debut at the Newport Beach shopping center in March, next to The Childrens Place.
“I’m buying bears as we’re talking,” said Diane Naumann, owner of Toy Boat.
Naumann and her husband Gary run Toy Boat stores in Newport Beach,where 17th Street becomes Westcliff Drive,as well as in Corona del Mar and Newport Coast.
The Fashion Island store is set to be their biggest at 3,000 square feet. The Westcliff store is the smallest at 1,000 square feet.
Fashion Island has been toyless since Imaginarium closed in 2003, which is why landlord The Irvine Company was hot to bring in Toy Boat.
“It fills a niche,” said Laura Davis, director of marketing for the Irvine Co. “It’s also a proven favorite with the community.”
Naumann said as big chain toy stores have closed, her stores have been going through a growth spurt. She considered other malls but she wanted to stay close to home.
“We live in the area,” she said. “We’re up at Fashion Island all the time, personally.”
Moving into the mall takes longer than opening a freestanding store, but it’s easier in some ways, according to Naumann.
The Naumanns said they plan to have more of what they carry now at the Fashion Island store, along with more travel toys for tourists, beach stuff and a lot of dolls.
This won’t be the first time the Naumanns have been at Fashion Island. About five years ago, they ran a temporary store there during the holidays.
Plastic Shoppers
Orange County was No. 7 on the list of shopping areas where people are most likely to use a credit card, according to fashion publication Women’s Wear Daily.
With an index of 100 equaling the nation’s average, OC had an index of 111.49, thanks mostly to Fashion Island and South Coast Plaza. OC also had the largest population of all the regions on the list.
Here is the list in order:
Stamford-Norwalk, Conn.; Danbury, Conn.; San Jose; Honolulu; San Francisco; Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon, N.J.; OC; Bergen-Passaic, N.J.; Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y.; Boulder, Longmont, Colo.
La-Z-Girl?
La-Z-Boy at The Market Place in Tustin is getting a remodel. A favorite of armchair quarterbacks, La-Z-Boy is trying to attract women with more feminine offerings, such as yellow recliners. In 2003, Monroe, Mich.-based La-Z-Boy Inc. signed up designer Todd Oldham to come up with furniture.
Beverages No More
Beverages & More closed at Fashion Island to make way for the mega Barnes & Noble due to open in the spring. Barnes and Noble also has displaced the Select Comfort mattress store, which is moving to another part of the Atrium, and Stone Creek Cafe, which will close in February. The restaurant is looking for a new home outside the mall.
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Hyundai Entity: part surfboard, part skateboard |
California Designin’
One of the coolest car concepts at the recent Design Los Angeles auto show came from Hyundai & Kia Design and Technical Center in Irvine.
The goal: create the “ultimate L.A. machine.”
The Hyundai and Kia designers came up with a sleek yellow Hyundai Entity, a beach cruiser with a surfboard roof and speakers for a concert feel.
“The design of the Entity is inspired by Southern California’s laidback street scene,” said Dragan Vukadinovic, senior designer at the center. “Instead of being just a vehicle, it represents a way of life.”
OC had a strong presence at the show, which, for the first time, focused on California designers. Along with Hyundai and Kia, representing OC were: Toyota’s Motor Corp.’s Calty Design Research Inc., Mazda Research & Development, Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design of North America and Mitsubishi Research & Design of North America.
Mercedes-Benz designers really went wild. Designed by a pilot, Mercedes’ Ultimate L.A. Machine has propeller gull wings to fly over traffic jams. Now that’s luxury.
The winners of the contest were the DaimlerChrysler Pacifica Design Center’s Dodge Superbee and the Volkswagen/Audi Design Center California’s Volkswagen Mobile Lounge. Both were designed to be stylish and environmentally friendly. Check out all the designs at www.laautodesign.com.
