Seconds in a matter of days

Andrew Edwards

Time is ticking away for Mainly Seconds.

Costa Mesa’s Mainly Seconds, part of a chain of stores that sells

plants, pottery and a hodgepodge of knickknacks, is going out of

business. Store manager Eugenio Gonzalez said the shop’s last day is

March 13.

“We are having a lot of customers wondering why,” Gonzalez said.

The reason, Mainly Seconds owner Mike Bonk said, is the store lost

its lease to do business in a Newport Boulevard strip mall. The chain

has four other stores in Orange County that will stay open, he said.

Mainly Seconds has been in Costa Mesa for 20 years, Bonk said. The

store has been at its current location for 18 years, after it moved

from 18th Street.

Some customers have bought pots and plants at the store as long as

it has been open, Gonzalez said.

“That’s why people are so sad,” he said.

One person who is disappointed by the store’s end is Lorrie Smith,

a Corona del Mar resident in her 50s.

“We’re crushed; it’s as bad as when Gilbert’s closed,” she said.

Gilbert’s, Smith said, was a dime store that used to be on 17th

Street. Though Mainly Seconds may not be old by history’s standards,

the store’s simple, white stucco edifice is a contrast to flashier,

more recent developments, and Smith said she will miss the shop’s

unpretentious atmosphere.

“It’s not new and shiny and Mediterranean -- that’s why it’s fun,”

she said.

The store’s stock of live plants is gone, Gonzalez said. What

remains inside are a forest of silk roses, orchids and carnations,

enough waxed fruit to stock a salad bar and a collection of

decorations that includes Christmas ornaments and a large box that

looks like a treasure chest adorned with an elephant design.

Throw in some toy cars and a rack of DVDs, and it’s easy to

understand why Newport Beach shopper Cynthia Bond said Mainly Seconds

is the kind of store you have to hunt through.

“You have to find the treasures,” she said. “I have quite a few

things in my house from the store. It’s going to be a loss.”

The store’s employees have been given the chance to work at other

stores, Gonzales said, though five people out of a 15-person staff

have already found new jobs. Jay Magana, a 20-year-old Costa Mesa

resident, said he found his first job when he started working at

Mainly Seconds in September and was trained to take care of the

store’s plants.

Magana said he would miss the camaraderie he has enjoyed at the

Costa Mesa store if relocated to a Mainly Seconds in another city.

“I’ve had so much fun here,” he said. “If I get transferred to a

new store, it’s not going to be the same.”

For now, Bonk is not preparing to open a new Mainly Seconds in

Costa Mesa.

But, “You never know what will happen” he said.