Jasmine Lee -- RETAIL ROUNDUP

It’s never too early to start planning for the prom.

And high school fashion fanatics can get a first glimpse of what’s hot

when Seventeen Magazine brings its Prom Prep 2000 style tour to Costa

Mesa. The teen mag will offer makeup tips and clothing advice March 18 at

Macy’s juniors department, on the second level in South Coast Plaza.

The event is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. and will feature a prom fashion

show, mini-makeovers, modeling tips and goodie giveaways. Magazine reps

are expecting hundreds of stylish seniors -- yes, freshmen, sophomores

and juniors are invited, too -- to flock to Prom Prep 2000.

Prom dates, however, will not be provided.

Skateboarding for tots

It’s like the skateboard version of mini-me. Equal Skateboards, a Newport

Beach-based company, has developed a high-performance skateboard which is

intended to help younger skaters execute tricks and flips like the big

boys do.

The secret solution: equipment that fits.

The philosophy behind the smaller but perfectly proportioned skateboards

is that children ages 4 to 12, who usually weigh between 75 to 120

pounds, cannot maneuver the bigger, heavier boards.

So that was the problem -- the boards were too large. Right ... now

4-year-old skaters can go pro.

FLOWERS IN BLOOM

Construction just went commercial.

It could be considered a business detractor to have construction going on

around the parking lot of a major mall. But at South Coast Plaza, where a

new bridge across Bear Street is being installed, dozens of barricades

are not big, bulky inconveniences. They are an advertising campaign.

Photographs of bold, beautiful flowers have been wallpapered onto the

barricades. South Coast Plaza hired an ad agency to do the eye-catching

work, hoping to get customers’ attention and draw them in.

The colorful pictures will remain on the barricades -- between eight to

12 feet high and about 16 feet long -- throughout the construction

period, which is expected to be completed in August.

The “Bridge of Gardens” will allow pedestrians to cross the street to

South Coast Plaza.