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It's party time at more O.C. stores

Elaine Gjonovich was taking a stroll in San Diego recently with her husband and noticed the crowds at bars and restaurants – and all the empty stores nearby.

“We would go into a retail store and it almost felt like a vacuum. There was the salesperson beckoning you in. It makes you want to walk away. We do not want to be that,” said Gjonovich, co-owner of Outdoor Fitness Adventure Club in San Clemente.

Now her shop has a Friday-night cafe where Gjonovich and her husband, Richard, open the business to the community to hang out, sample free coffee and pastries and listen to live bands. The goal: to create an atmosphere like in the old TV show “Cheers,” about a bar “where everyone knows your name.”

Gjonovich is among many retailers trying to make their business a destination, more than just a place to buy things.

Some south Orange County business owners say the recession has made them change their mind-set about what they offer. If people won’t leave their homes to go shopping, you have to provide them with a good time – an extra push to go to your store, business owners said.

To stand out in a competitive, crowded marketplace, which includes online shopping, retailers must embrace their community, owners said. Several restaurants, such as Salt Creek Grille and The Renaissance in Dana Point, have long offered live entertainment to draw in crowds, but now it seems more retailers are doing it, too.

Gjonovich said she doesn’t see sales spike during the cafes – far from it, actually. But it has helped with exposure.

“I think it’s attracted a lot more people to us that maybe wouldn’t have come in before,” she said. “I’ve had people come and say, ‘I’ve always wondered what this store is and I haven’t come in until now.’ ”

Nichole Chambers, president of the Dana Point Chamber of Commerce, said she has been preaching this idea to members for a while: Events are not necessarily about sales but making a good impression.

“I’ve been trying to tell businesses that they have to think outside the box and try something different,” she said.

Tushita Heaven in San Juan Capistrano has been doing that the past five months, offering live music on Friday nights. That’s not such an obvious venture for a shop that sells gems and new-age products, but the easy-listening acts help fortify the shop’s place in the community and create a more desirable shopping atmosphere, owner Dawn Hall said.

“If Ruby’s has music and Sarducci’s has music and we have music, people will say, ‘Let’s go to town,’ ” Hall said. She makes only a few extra sales on event nights, but the real payback is the exposure and integrating with the community, she said.

Karen Dealwis has kicked the event factor to high gear. She recently had a fashion show at her clothing boutique, Avenue Accents in San Clemente, that attracted about 300 guests. Since then, she has been booked to run fashion shows at other outlets, including a new restaurant in Costa Mesa and a Hollywood club.

Though these events are not in-store, she’ll take the Avenue Accents logo with her, hoping it will increase awareness of her shop, which has felt the pangs of a tough economy and a slow summer.

“Now I’m seeing more and more people doing events, events, events,” Dealwis said. “It’s the economy, definitely. Stores have to make themselves known.”

The event trend isn’t just happening locally. Kathy Grannis, a National Retail Federation spokeswoman, said retailers use events as a way to generate new customers and increase their brand awareness, in addition to generating sales.

“Entertainment really only enhances the customer experience, which is essential to all retailers when it comes to brand loyalty,” she said.

A good event that will attract people includes free food or entertainment, Dealwis said. When asked whether she thought retailers were having to give a little to get a little due to the recession, she said, “You have to give a lot!”