BRIEFLY IN BUSINESS

Hardware store helps sick employee

Coast Hardware in Laguna Beach is holding a rummage sale to raise money to help an employee who is ill, according to John Perry, also a Coast Hardware employee.

The rummage sale will be from 2 to 5:30 p.m. Saturday and starting at 8 a.m. Sunday at the Wachovia Bank parking lot next to the hardware store at 240 Broadway.

Donations are being sought for the sale.

For more information, call (949) 497-4404.

Tresor appoints chief legal counsel

Tresor Properties, a Laguna Beach real estate investment, construction and brokerage company, has appointed Benjamin Benumof as chief legal counsel.

A former senior litigator in the Costa Mesa office of the law firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP, with a doctorate in engineering geology, Benumof specializes in land use, environmental, construction and real estate law matters. He will create and help launch Tresor’s private investment fund and will oversee the entitlement process for the company’s properties in Laguna Beach and the East Cape of Baja California, Mexico.

“We are extremely pleased to have attracted a high-caliber attorney such as Ben to the Tresor team,” said John Fischbeck, president and founding partner of Tresor Properties. “Ben’s profound knowledge of land use, real estate and business law is a perfect complement to the company’s existing expertise in real estate investment, construction and brokerage services.”

Benumof is a member of the State Bar of California, Urban Land Institute, Assn. of Engineering and Environmental Geologists, and a guest lecturer at Chapman University School of Law. He also has published numerous legal and scientific papers, geologic reports, guidebooks and maps. Benumof resides in San Clemente.

Toes on the Nose has new women’s line

Toes on the Nose, a surf apparel company founded in Laguna Beach, has joined forces with Joda Enterprises to develop their women’s and girls’ surf apparel brands.

Veering away from the juniors market, Toes on the Nose Women’s is providing styles, cuts and function for 25- to 45-year-old, female customers.

“There is not a lot of fashionable, chic clothing or swim that women can wear and still be active in,” said Alane Schechter, Toes on the Nose Women’s brand director. “The Toes on the Nose Women’s spring ’09 swim and sportswear collection enables our customers to get in the water or participate in an active lifestyle and look great doing it, without being concerned about support or coverage.”

The swim collection incorporates Hawaiian-style prints, tie-dyes and floral graphics, with reversible styles, hardware made from coconuts and body conscious and functional styles, such as tankinis, skirtinis, roll waist shorts, pareos and rashguards.

Toes on the Nose was established in 1992 in Laguna Beach. For more information, visit www.toesonthenose.com.

Business Club hosts newspaper personnel

The Laguna Beach Business Club will hear a presentation from Stu Saffer, founder of the Laguna Beach Independent, and City Editor Andrea Adelson at 7:30 a.m. Thursday at the Hotel Laguna, Catalina Room. The public is invited. Admission is $25, which includes buffet breakfast. To attend, call Josh Wolff at (949) 769-3600 or e-mail [email protected].