CORONA DEL MAR TODAY

Erica Dee Shops Shuttered in Corona del Mar

Since 2001, Erica Dee boutiques have dotted Coast Highway in Corona del Mar. First a woman’s boutique, then a men’s store and ultimately a kids’ shop made a trilogy of fashion and style that drew shoppers from the village and beyond.

“The stores were just landmarks,” owner Erica Dee Thomas said on Thursday afternoon. “People said it to me all the time, and I would say, ‘I know.’”

But after years of selling lines including Trovata and Diane Von Furstenberg to loyal clients, business ground to a halt in January 2008.

“Our sales dropped like a rocket,” she said. “We had expanded, and it was worth it; it all made sense. But then the economy set in on our clientele. We felt recession-proof until then. We were used to January being slow, but it was…exceedingly slow. February was slow…”

The men’s store, which opened in 2006, closed last May. After merging her other shops, Thomas called it quits on Dec. 28.

“We tried to keep chugging along,” Thomas said. “But I have two young children. Is it worth it to be away from them if it just wasn’t working? Closing was bittersweet. It was so sad.”

Thomas has had tent sales and has a website for remaining inventory, and she promises that she’s working on a new project that is secret for now.

Her former shops, meanwhile, remain empty and apparently available for lease.