Corona del Mar
The Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce bristles at the tone and lack of knowledge shown in your article (Shopping, Life, Jan. 15). Perhaps your columnist was confused when she wrote the amazing story about our town.
The headline “It’s Small Town U.S.A., With a Bit of Seashore Class” was somewhat amusing but not very enlightening. As for “no place to take the kids,” we have the Corona del Mar State Beach. She didn’t mention this fact in her article, or that we have small children parks at the foot of Carnation and along Bayside Drive, or the Grant Howald Park.
It is true that we have only one excellent toy store and no department store, but it really isn’t missed with the wide selection of clothing, linens, bath and gift shops. To quote her statement that “surviving in the shadow of Fashion Island has not been easy” was not true when Fashion Island was built, nor is it a threat today.
The article stated that “while the strip is not booming, it is far from dead.” The majority of the businesses mentioned are quite new to the community, some will make it and some won’t, but I would suggest she should have gleaned a bit of information from well-established businesses. Their successes are well-documented.
It is not true that public parking lots have been recently added. There are only two public lots in Corona del Mar. There is fee parking available at Corona del Mar State Beach.
Another untrue statement is that the Chamber of Commerce has only an outdated directory. The 1987 directories were mailed to all businesses and residents in Corona del Mar, and the chamber is in the process of publishing the 1988 directory. It is true we don’t have a map of our town, but the chamber office has poster maps and local real estate offices have maps available.
We will most certainly agree that your writer needed a map, as I’m sure she was lost. Warren Imports is not and has never been in Corona del Mar. It is in Laguna Beach and has been there for 30 years.
LUVENA HAYTON
Secretary
Board of Directors
Chamber of Commerce
Corona del Mar
