In a slow retail leasing market, Shaheen Sadeghi couldn’t find a solid tenant to move into The Camp, so he created a store to fill it himself.
Sadeghi and his wife, Linda, opened their own 12,000-square-foot store, Seed People’s Market, in the anti-mall, which they own through Lab Holding LLC.
The Sadeghis own and operate the store, which sells handmade items, such as art, clothing and jewelry, and has a small restaurant called Under the Stairs Cafe. Many of the artisans are local.
The new store fits in with what Shaheen Sadeghi sees as the beginning of a long-term trend: a shift in consumer demand for practical, sustainable products that have causes.
“I don’t really gauge this as a seasonal or temporary setback,” he said. “We are going through a cultural shift in America.”
In the future, the U.S. might not lead in consumption, he said.
“Long term, most of us are retooling our products to line up with the consumer,” he said.
In other Lab news, Treasury Department, a boutique that sells vintage and emerging designer clothing, recently opened.
South Coast Stores
South Coast Plaza is getting a “pop-up” store. Teen Vogue’s The Haute Spot store will temporarily move into the mall from Wednesday until Sept. 27.
Pop ups are a good way for malls to collect rent while seeking a long-term tenant.
In other South Coast Plaza news, French retailer Façonnable has opened at the mall. The store sells high-end men’s and women’s clothing and accessories.
The Lebanese Mikati family owns the Façonnable chain, once part of Nordstrom Inc. The Mikati’s M1 Fashion, part of MI Group, bought Façonn-able in 2007 from Nordstrom for $210 million. The Mikatis have a number of other investments, including oil and gas companies and Flybaboo SA, a Switzer-land-based airline.
Columbus, Ohio-based Limited Brands Inc. also is opening a store—one of its Henri Bendel accessory stores is set to open this fall.
Limited has six brands including Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works. Henri Bendel is a small chain with about six stores in San Diego, Florida, Michigan and a flagship store in New York.
Ikea Model Homes
The Costa Mesa Ikea store put up two model homes in its parking lot to demonstrate Ikea products. One is a family home and the other is a home for three roommates.
The store used its staff to set up the homes in time for its catalog mailing to boost back to college sales, which have gotten off to a good start. Ikea sends out 8.1 million catalogs in Orange County.
“For us, back to school starts really early,” said Yumiko Whitaker, spokeswoman. “This is our annual event. This is our Christmas.”
Cash for Clunkers
As the Cash for Clunkers program wound down last weekend, local dealers awaited payments, some more anxiously than others.
Some local dealers facing a cash crunch weren’t pleased that the reimbursement from the federal government had taken longer than expected, said Paul Lunsford, general manager of South Coast Toyota and president of the Orange County Automobile Dealers Association.
Dealers were expected to have all their paperwork filed last week under the federal Car Allowance Rebate System (better known as Cash for Clunkers) that offered car buyers up to $4,500 on a trade in of an older model car for a new one with better gas mileage.
But when those rebates will get back to the dealers that have already fronted the money to the buyers remains to be seen.
“Ultimately we’ll get paid,” said Paul Lunsford, general manager of South Coast Toyota. “I think they’d have a real problem on their hand if the dealers didn’t get paid. It would be a credibility issue.”
The program got such a robust response that the government, which approved an additional $2 billion for rebates to bring the total to $3 billion, may have trouble processing all of the paperwork quickly.
Nationally, at least half a million cars were sold under the program.
Lunsford said the program didn’t slow up as it went on. The Corolla was the top selling car, he said.
Auto Show
Plans for the annual Orange County Auto Show at the Anaheim Convention Center are under way.
The show, held Oct. 15 to Oct. 18, is owned and put on by the Orange County Automobile Dealers Association and Southland Motor Car Dealers Association. Motor Trend Auto Shows LLC produces the show.
Bits and Pieces
The Shops at Mission Viejo, which is 100% leased, will be topped off with the fall opening of a Microsoft store and Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour & Restaurant. Laguna Niguel-based Parlour Enterprises is opening the restaurant … Rancho Santa Margarita-based Golden Spoon Franchising is expanding in the Philippines under an agreement with Unilogix Inc. Golden Spoon will open at least 25 stores there in the next five years. Unilogix launched the Starbucks brand in the Philippines … Irvine-based Tilly’s Inc. stores now are carrying Newport Beach-based Atwater Clothing. Everett, Wash.-based Zumiez Inc. and Virginia Beach-based Coastal Edge also picked up the Atwater brand.
