Family Copes With Grief by Believing in Angels : After the tragic death of their teen-age daughter, couple open a store with a heaven-sent theme, hoping to inspire others.

It wasn’t until Kirk and Sandy Moore lost their 15-year-old daughter Tara in a tragic car accident that they realized the importance of angels.

A spiritual person, Tara loved angels--even telling her younger sister Deanna two days before the crash that she would always be Deanna’s guardian angel. The morning after the accident in August, 1992, Kirk and Sandy said they found what they considered signs from Tara, including an angel cookie she had made and the sheet music to a song entitled “I Am an Angel,” on her bedroom floor.

But it was after friends and family started giving the couple various angel gifts and articles about angel-themed stores that they began thinking of opening their own shop. The couple gathered $20,000 in savings to open Tara’s Angels three months ago.

“Our intent was to take our grief and turn it into a positive and inspire other people,” said Kirk Moore, 42, who hopes to leave his job as a mortgage lender and work at the already profitable store full time. Sandy, 43, who had spent 15 years as an elementary school teacher, quit her job to run the store. Now, all three family members believe in angels.

“We never had any doubt about its success,” said Kirk Moore. “We knew we wanted to change our lives after the tragedy and make a statement that would carry on Tara’s memory.”

But one who had his doubts was Paul Farber, the part-owner and property manager of the Franciscan Plaza where the store is located, near the San Juan Capistrano Mission.

When the couple first approached him with their concept for an angel store, he thought it wouldn’t last two months.

“It just seemed too trendy, too way out,” said Farber. Still, he signed them up with an initial low rent, which increases as the store’s profits rise. “Now they are doing two to three times more in sales than I thought they would. Every time you walk by there are six or seven people in there.”

At Tara’s Angels, sales have reached about $12,000 a month and the couple said word-of-mouth promotion of the 360-square-foot store has already let them recoup start-up costs. Kirk Moore said that because of customer interest, he is considering starting a franchise of Tara’s Angels stores.

Sally Allen, owner of Angels For All Seasons, a Denver store that opened in 1991, is not surprised. Her angels-only store has grown from 850 square feet to more than 3,000 square feet, and she has added a wholesale angel product business.

“Angels are big business,” said Allen, although she would not release sales figures.

The image of the sweet, cherubic angels so popular these days is not the same as angels of old, says Marv Meyer, a religious studies professor at Chapman University. Ancient angels were sometimes fierce warriors--winged creatures with four heads who appeared flashing fire.

“The idea of an angel as a pure light being is very modern,” he said. “I think angels are popular now because the ordinary ways of coping are not working. People are lost in the machinery of society and getting chewed up. So you need someone you can trust, maybe your own guardian angel, someone you can call down yourself.”

Tara’s Angels is crammed with angels of all types: handmade lace angels; terra-cotta angels; wooden angels; candle angels and porcelain angels. Soft music from an “Angel Harp” cassette tape wafts up to the ceiling, which is painted a light sky blue spotted with white clouds. A large color photo of Tara is displayed prominently on a wall near the cash register with the words “Tara Lauren Moore, A Beautiful Angel,” displayed underneath.

The store is stocked with several angel books. Titles include: “Ask Your Angels--A practical guide to working with the messengers of heaven to empower and enrich your life.”

A large angel greeting card display has several specific cards highlighted, including cards for daughters. Depicting a diaphanous fairy angel with flowing hair, the card reads: “Happy Birthday Daughter: You’re an Angel.”

“Many people who have come in here have lost a child or a spouse,” said Sandy Moore. “I’ve gotten calls from people after they leave the store saying the visit changed their life. Everyday, I just get so emotional.”

The store has helped the couple handle their grief, as has extensive counseling for the entire family. Everyone in the family is a member of the Capistrano Valley Church of Religious Science, which they say encourages a positive outlook. They believe Tara has guided them in the development of the store.

“I know she has seen the store,” said Kirk Moore. “I can feel her energy in there. I know she’s proud of it and it’s just what she wanted.”

In January, the couple plan to start “A Gathering of Angels,” weekly classes costing about $10 for people to talk about angel experiences or learn more about angels.

“I think an angel is someone who is constantly watching over you for your highest good,” said Kirk Moore. “I don’t think I could have an angel store if I didn’t believe in angels.”