Fairen Del opened in Flower Hill Promenade in May.
Photo by: Karen Billing
Four new businesses have bloomed at Flower Hill Promenade.
Fairen Del, Morrison Hotel Gallery and Express Patio opened in late May, and Spa Gregorie's is aiming for an early July opening.
Meanwhile, The Poached Pear closed last month and the space remains vacant.
Morrison Hotel Gallery, well known for its locations in La Jolla and New York, features fine art music photography by more than 50 jazz and rock n' roll photographers.
The space upstairs in Flower Hill is linked with BookWorks and is spacious and open, with artists such as Mick Jagger, Jim Morrison and Pearl Jam staring out from the walls.
Art walk introduced A May 17 Art Walk at the center introduced many customers to the gallery. "The foot traffic was really great and everyone was really positive about it," said Chantal Paul, gallery director.
They plan to have opening receptions at the store for their photographers, with the first on July 17-18 with photographer Eddie Kramer who has shot Kiss, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zepplin and Chuck Berry.
Below Morrison's on the bottom floor, people have enjoyed discovering the great offerings at Express Patio, said Rose Jabin, property manager.
The store specializes in stylish outdoor patio sets that look as though they could pass for living room sofas.
Spa Gregorie's, a day spa that has locations in Newport Beach and Rancho Santa Margarita, is taking over the former Pukalani Day Spa.
'Stunning locatioin' "We were looking for an expansion opportunity even in this down economy," said owner Scott Duncan. "This is a stunning location. It seemed like this is a community that we want to be part of."
Duncan said they are making small changes to the 6,500-square-foot space, such as creating separate men's and women's steam rooms (before it was co-ed) and expanding the retail area.
In addition to their spa services, Spa Gregorie's also participates in a lot of community service programs. One day a month they close down the spa to open it up for cancer patients to get free treatments.
"We most certainly want to develop the same thing in this area," Duncan said. "We are excited to be a part of a new community and build a new family."
Returning home While some businesses are very new, Fairen Del's owner Irina Rachow is coming home - she owned Madison when it first opened, before opening her first Fairen Del location in Carlsbad.
The Madison store was completely gutted and re-done in just three weeks, resulting in a two-level space that is crisp and white with new walnut floors.
The bottom floor has more of a masculine feel with luggage, corporate gifts and men's accessories. Upstairs, it's decidedly feminine with shoes, purses and a case full of interesting jewelry.
"We really try to create a real cozy, nice, friendly environment," said manager Mary Bressi, adding they even bake cookies in the store every day.
She said she loves the open floor plan of the store that people can breeze through on their way to get a coffee at Panakin.
"We're very happy being here," Bressi said.
Karen Billing Karen is a writer for the Del Mar Times, Carmel Valley Times, Rancho Santa Fe Review and Solana Beach Sun. Karen can be reached by e-mail.
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