Living Spaces Furniture welcomed more than 100 guests - including Irvine Mayor Beth Krom –  to its grand opening celebration Thursday at its new location in Irvine Home Center.

“We’ve been looking for the right location in South Orange County for some time,” said Grover Geiselman, CEO of Living Spaces. “The Irvine Co. has created an outstanding shopping environment here, and we look forward to serving the home furnishing needs of all of Orange County.”

Moments later, Geilselman cut the ceremonial ribbon and guests flooded into the 90,000-square-foot store to shop for sofas, beds – even televisions.  Since 2007, Living Spaces showrooms have featured Paul’s TV (“The King of the Big Screen”) stores. Paul himself arrived at the celebration to welcome guests in person.

The Irvine store is Living Spaces’ first in Orange County and fourth in Southern California. Geiselman said Living Spaces sought a “Class A” shopping center with steady traffic. Irvine Home Center is near the intersections of the I-5, I-405 and 133 freeways.

“Look how beautifully designed and landscaped the center is,” Geiselman said.

Janice Fuchs, vice president of operations for  Irvine Company Retail Properties, expressed findness for the company’s new tenant.

“It is a proud day for the Irvine Home Center,” she said.

Click here to read about other changes at Irvine Home Center.

Living Spaces’ address is 101 Technology Drive and its phone number is 877-266-7300. Its website is www.livingspaces.com.

More on local retail

• Big changes at Irvine Home Center
• Living Spaces Furniture opens in Irvine; grand opening is Thursday
• T-Mobile store at Spectrum closes down; reason is a secret
• Irvine Spectrum Center gets 4 new retailers
• Asian shopping center to open in Irvine
• Active Ride Shop opens at Irvine Spectrum Center
• Beauty Source opens at Orchard Hills
• Linens ‘n Things at The Market Place is closing down

Lauren Conrad, the Laguna Beach native who stars on MTV’s hit reality show, “The Hills,” will kick off Style Week Orange County with a runway show Sept. 8 to debut her fall collection of clothing.

“This is a wonderful homecoming for me, and I look forward to seeing old friends - and making new ones,” Conrad said in a written statement. “Because it was so close to my home, I grew up shopping at Irvine Spectrum Center and still visit the center when I’m in Orange County. I’m excited to return to my roots and participate in the first-ever Style Week Orange County.”

“Spectrum draws sophisticated shoppers and trend-setters from my hometown of Laguna Beach as well as Newport Beach and other areas of the region,” Conrad said.

Last year’s debut of the Lauren Conrad Collection reflected the designer’s beach-girl lifestyle and Orange County upbringing. Her fall collection presents pieces that are sophisticated and chic, to “bring out the Southern California girl in you,” according to Conrad.

Local stores that carry the Lauren Conrad Collection include Etc. Etc. Etc. in Newport Beach, Sienna Brown in Newport Coast and Nordstrom at Irvine Spectrum Center.

The season premier of “The Hills” is tonight on MTV. Conrad got her start on the MTV reality show, ‘Laguna Beach - The Real Orange County.’

Style Week Orange County is Sept. 8-13 at Irvine Spectrum Center. The weeklong fashion event will feature six runway shows and dozens of in-store fashion events, designer appearances and a House of Style that visitors and fashionistas can tour. Read the rest of this entry »

For the 22 business days ending July 28, the median sales price for all types of Irvine home decreased 18.9 percent - $750,965 to $608,872 - from the same period a year ago. The number of closed home sales in the city dropped 15 percent - 258 to 218 - from the same period a year ago. Countywide, the medium is down 27 percent and sales volume is up 6.4 percent. ZIP-by-ZIP figures for Irvine are listed below.

Core data provided by DataQuick. The citywide medians listed are weighted average medians derived from ZIP code totals. The median is where half the homes sold for more and half for less. Types of homes selling, as well as home value changes, cause the median to change.

More Irvine real estate content

• Free foreclosure workshop in Irvine
• Irvine homes prices and sales - early July
• Irvine house raffle winners: The Big 7
• Irvine called 4th best place to live in U.S.
• Irvine home sales down 39% in June; median price down 15.4%
• New urban, Caribbean-style residences now leasing

By Stephen Craig, community blogger

There’s no doubt gourmet cupcakes are popular these days. Every time you turn around, there seems to be yet another cupcake bakery opening for business. I stopped by one of the newest – Sweet Lorraine Bakeshop – which made its debut recently at Irvine Spectrum Center.

Sweet Lorraine, which specializes in cupcakes, is something of a dessert fanatics dream – at least at first.

When you walk into the bakeshop, you’re immediately hit with a pleasant smell that tells you, ”this is going to be good.” As you take in the aroma, you notice the assortment of cupcakes sitting behind the glass-partitioned counter.

Cupcakes at Sweet Lorraine’s are not as intricately decorated as some of their more famous cupcake rivals. They have somewhat of a homemade look to them. The flavors are pretty standard for a modern cupcake bakery. They include Peanut Butter, Vanilla, Oreo, the ever-popular Red Velvet, and much more.

After looking over the options I decided to get two cupcakes; one Peanut Butter and the other Oreo. Both of which ended up being good choices. But at $3.25 a cupcake, I was expecting something great, something with a “wow” factor. What I got was just ordinary.

Sweet Lorraine Cupcake Bakeshop is near the Ferris wheel at Irvine Spectrum Center, a retail and dining center located where the I-5 and I-405 freeways meet. Their phone number is 949-727-7436.

Take 30 percent off designer sunglasses from Maui Jim, Oakley and Ray-Ban and 50 percent off select frames starting this Saturday at Golden Vision Optometry, 15333 Culver Drive Suite 690. Also, patients who purchase contact lenses or a contact lens exam will receive a gift bag with hard-dual contact lenses and a glasses case, contact lens solution, lens cloths, rewetting drops, coupons and more, while supplies last. Both back-to-school deals end August 31. More information: 949-552-4271.

2nd Street Beauty, located at Woodbury Town Center (6286 Irvine Blvd.), has marked down prices by 30 percent on all 25-once-and-greater products. The mini-beauty store is stocked with high-end skincare, hair care, nail care, makeup and bath and body products from big-time brand names: Murad, Dermalogica, Smashbox Cosmetics, MD Formulations, Bare Escentuals, Epicuren, Jane Iredale, Urban Decay, Pureology, Matrix, Paul Mitchell, Tigi, Ojon and others. More information: 949-653-0220.

California Foreclosure Institute will present a free two-hour workshop for beginner investors and Realtors on how to get started finding and buying foreclosure properties from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 27. The workshop will be at Irvine Public Library, 14361 Yale Ave. The workshop will be taught by Lloyd Segal, author of “Stop Foreclosure Now.” The workshop is complimentary, but reservations are required. To register, visit www.foreclosureworkshop.net, or call 888-285-0101.  

Winners of the Big 7 prizes:

$5,000 cash: Deborah Robertson

$5,000 cash: Masood Mirza

$5,000 cash: Jungwook Lee

$10,000 cash: Janet Woo

$10,000 cash: Sandra Spencer

$25,000 cash: Michael Doss

House or $600,000 cash: Donna Palella Johnston

The house winner is a 53-year-old mom from Irvine who got the winning ticket as a gift. Click here to read more about her.

For a list of winners of the other prizes, click here.

View the list of prizes. Read about whether experts think a house or $600,000 is a better deal. Vote in a poll. Watch a tour of the house. Read about what was offered and if the cash or the homes were taken in past Irvine house raffles.

Today’s the day! I’ll be blogging live updates from the Irvine house raffle at Woodbury Elementary School. The raffle should start at 4 p.m. Stay tuned!

–

4:03 p.m. They just announced that the raffle starts in 10 minutes!

–

Multiple-ticket buyer $10,000 cash winner: Ronald M. Tollison

They pulled 7 raffle tickets for the house or $600,000 cash, $25,000 cash , $10,000 (2), and $5,000 (3) prizes and sealed them up in envelopes to announce at the end.

For now, the other prizes:
8. $2,500 cash: Cristina Chira

9. $2,500 cash: Christopher Koyama

10. $2,500 cash: Ian McClelland

11. $2,500 cash: Kristal Pye

12. $2,500 cash: Julie Nguyen

13. Custom portrait by world acclaimed artist Zoey (valued at $5,000): Lois Radcliff

14. Gift certificate family or individual sitting and 16×20 canvas wall portrait Bradford Portraits (valued at $3,000): Christopher Lewis

15. Gift certificate family or individual sitting and 11×14 canvas wall portrait Bradford Portraits (valued at $1,000): Tauqir Caudry

16. St. John Knits Gift Certificate (valued at $1,000): Jeffrey Elumba

17. Sony PSP Bundle Pack (valued at $270): Kita Feldman

18. Sony PSP Bundle Pack (valued at $270): Lyo Figuero

19. Sony PSP Bundle Pack (valued at $270): Joseph Alvino

20. Sony PSP Bundle Pack (valued at $270): Clara Naum

21. Sony PSP Bundle Pack (valued at $270): Thomas Metclafe

22. 16 GB iPod Touch (valued at $399): Bob Manzer

23. 16 GB iPod Touch (valued at $399): Karen Strassenburg

24. 16 GB iPod Touch (valued at $399): Peter Bergstrom

25. 16 GB iPod Touch (valued at $399): Christine Kibler

26. 16 GB iPod Touch (valued at $399): Jon Radus

27. 8 GB iPod Touch (valued at $199): Robert Neunuebel

28. 8 GB iPod Touch (valued at $199): Neil Letham

29. 8 GB iPod Touch (valued at $199): Michelle Kim

30. 8 GB iPod Touch (valued at $199): David L. Morris

31. 8 GB iPod Touch (valued at $199): Catharine M. Diyco

32. 8 GB iPod Touch (valued at $199): Simon Cheung

33. 8 GB iPod Touch (valued at $199): Diane Davis

34. 8 GB iPod Touch (valued at $199): Paula Sweet

35. 8 GB iPod Touch (valued at $199): Peter Bravo

36. 8 GB iPod Touch (valued at $199): Baha Abhari

37. Nikon digital camera (valued at $199): Susan Gumbrecht

38. Nikon digital camera (valued at $199): Tai Sunshin

39. Nikon digital camera (valued at $199): Vi Ly

40. Nikon digital camera (valued at $199): Aaron Alino

41. Nikon digital camera (valued at $199): Sal Salazar

42. Nikon digital camera (valued at $199): Usha Rani Chadalavada

43. Nikon digital camera (valued at $199): Michelle Lee Reynolds

44. Nikon digital camera (valued at $199): Khalid Marusy

45. Nikon digital camera (valued at $199): Chris Noble

46. Nikon digital camera (valued at $199): Linda Williams

47. Cookie Lee jewelry (valued at $199): Javid Malik

48. Oakley sunglasses (valued at $170): Amparo A. Llata

49. Oakley sunglasses (valued at $170): Paul Lee

50. Oakley sunglasses (valued at $170): Javier Robles

51. Oakley sunglasses (valued at $140): John Bui

52. Oakley sunglasses (valued at $140): Jiade Liu

53. Oakley sunglasses (valued at $140): Catherine McCarthy

54. Oakley sunglasses (valued at $140): Kathy Iwanycky

55. Oakley sunglasses (valued at $140): Mark Jorgensen

56. Oakley sunglasses (valued at $145): Brenda Carpio

57. Oakley sunglasses (valued at $145):Gail Whitesmith

58. Oakley sunglasses (valued at $145):Ernest C. Ikei

59. Oakley sunglasses (valued at $145):Steven Choi

60. Oakley sunglasses (valued at $145): Diane Hachadoorian

61. Oakley sunglasses (valued at $145):Kathleen Piirone

Now, waiting for the big announcements…

Read about the winners for the final big 7 prizes.

**

View the list of prizes. Read about whether experts think a house or $600,000 is a better deal. Vote in a poll. Watch a tour of the house. Read about what was offered and if the cash or the homes were taken in past Irvine house raffles.

Living Spaces Furniture opened its newest location, the first in Orange County, on Aug. 1. The new Irvine store is the fourth location in the greater Los Angeles area along with stores in Rancho Cucamonga, La Mirada and Van Nuys. Living Spaces’ Irvine showroom is at 101 Technology Drive, inside the Irvine Home Center off the I-5 freeway at Alton Parkway. The 90,000-square-foot showroom will house a large selection of furniture available for same day delivery.

In addition, the Irvine store will be the latest collaboration between Living Spaces and Paul’s TV, “the king of big screen.” Since August 2007, Paul’s TV has opened a store inside each Living Spaces showroom. Their new Irvine location will be home of the world’s largest plasma TV, a 103-inch Panasonic.

To celebrate the Irvine grand opening, Living Spaces will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 8:45 a.m. Thursday, August 14. Guest speakers will include Irvine mayor Beth Krom and Living Spaces CEO Grover Geiselman. Orange County residents are invited to attend this event and take advantage of special coupons that will be handed out immediately after the ribbon cutting.

For more information about Living Spaces call Rene Interiano at 714-670-4568 or visit the company’s website, www.livingspaces.com.