Stores

Back in February, the world's media converged on Whittier hoping to get a glimpse of octuplet mother Nadya Suleman and her 14 children. The media moved on when Suleman took a home in nearby La Habra. But the legacy of "Octomom" lives on at the Gold Mine VW Auto Parts building on Pickering Avenue in Whittier. There, drivers can't help but chuckle at a display that owners Ralph and Diva Chase have set up. Mounted on a wall is half a grabber-blue 1969 Volkswagen Beetle. Inside, a black-haired mannequin -- respectfully named Teri, not Nadya -- is sitting with her legs crossed, surrounded by doll babies.

As part of a new marketing campaign, Sit 'n Sleep has launched a mattress buyback program to encourage customers to trade in their old mattresses toward the purchase of a new one. The promotion is available at all 22 Sit 'n Sleep stores and ends Aug. 23. Any old mattress will qualify, and customers do not need to bring the mattress to the store -- it just should be ready to be picked up when the new one is delivered. The Gardena company said it would use a "sliding scale" to determine the worth of the old mattress.

Microsoft plans to open stores in Orange County and Arizona this fall. The Redmond, Wash., software maker said it signed leases at shopping centers in Mission Viejo and Scottsdale, Ariz. The stores, the company's first, will sell laptops in addition to Microsoft and third-party software, Zunes, and Xbox 360 games and consoles, Microsoft said.

New High (M)art, which recently moved to Los Feliz Village from downtown, definitely has a personality. The boutique opened in Chinatown two years ago with themed installations including one called World Fringe that featured clothing from local avant-garde designers alongside inexpensive accessories, shoes and music from international vendors. The Los Feliz incarnation carries on that eclectic tradition by stocking tote bags from Ghana next to graphic T-shirts from L.A.'s Brian Lichtenberg.

When Mervyns called it quits last year, many in the recession-battered retailing world were surprised when Kohl's Corp. rushed to take over dozens of the failed chain's locations. Both department stores sold a similar mix of mid-priced apparel, accessories and home furnishings. There was a significant overlap in the customers who shopped at Mervyns and Kohl's. The retailers' stores were even alike in size and layout. On Sept. 30, Kohl's bold move will be put to the test when it opens 35 stores in former Mervyns locations, 30 of them in California.

Re: "Stores giving check use the bounce," Sept. 21: So supermarkets are thinking about eliminating checks to pay for groceries. Reducing services may save money, but at the expense of losing customers. Mary Stewart Wilmington

Walgreen Co. plans to add beer and wine to its stores, marking a return to a business it exited more than a decade ago. The country's largest drugstore chain expects to roll out the category to Walgreens stores nationwide in the next 12 to 18 months as part of a broader attempt to drive traffic and boost sales. The return to carrying alcohol comes as the chain looks for ways to restore profit growth, including making over stores, cutting costs and expanding its healthcare businesses.

Home Furnishings on Consignment has leased 9,000 square feet of space in the Evergreen Plaza Shopping Center in Thousand Oaks, with plans to open the store Saturday. Owners Mike Pegler and Sean Clark said the upscale consignment store will feature previously owned fine furnishings, showroom samples and manufacturer close-outs. The center is located at 3686 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd. Capital Commercial represented Pegler and Clark in the five-year lease transaction.

As they stocked up one last time on nuts, bolts and nails, some were worrying Monday that Larchmont Village was being hammered. The quaint shopping district's 82-year-old hardware store was closing Monday, the latest victim of what many fear is an assault on mom-and-pop businesses by developers who are buying up the storefront shops and boutiques.

Action sports apparel maker Quiksilver Inc. widened its projected first-quarter loss because of weakness at company-owned stores and delayed reorders of winter sports merchandise. Shares of Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver fell 6.5% to $6.95 in after-hours trading. Chief Executive Robert McKnight said "broad-based weakness at retail" had affected stores in the U.S. and Europe. Also, winter sports retailers were clearing out inventory and delaying reorders. "In anticipation of continuing weakness in consumer spending, we are taking incremental action to reduce expenses and discretionary capital spending," McKnight said.