Three months after swimsuit designer Ashley Paige made her life available for the world on the TLC reality show “Bikini or Bust,” Paige is a star and her shop on Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood is a destination.
“People who come in here have told me that if they’re on a Hollywood tour, and the tour guide doesn’t know where the Ashley Paige store is, they’ve gotten off the bus and found it themselves,” Paige said.
It’s quite a turnaround for Paige, who started her high-end, handmade bikini company eight years ago but had been struggling. Lately, however, she’s gotten an investor for her company and a licensing deal with Target, which will sell Ashley Paige-branded bikinis starting in March.
And, of course, there are the tourists.
“We’re a destination store now. I’m even on the star map,” she said.
Sweet Donation
Khloe Kardashian, another reality show star, recently needed to sell dozens of cupcakes for an upcoming episode of “Celebrity Apprentice.” So she called from New York and asked high-profile criminal defense attorney Robert Shapiro to buy some.
An odd request? Not really. Kardashian is representing Shapiro’s charity the Brent Shapiro Foundation on the show.
“I bought a sizable amount of cupcakes and told her to give them to homeless people,” the Los Angeles lawyer said.
How sizable? Try $2,500 worth.
The charity is named after Shapiro’s son, Brent, who died in 2005 from an accidental drug overdose. Shapiro said Khloe Kardashian’s mother, Kris Jenner, who is a friend, suggested that her daughter play for Shapiro’s charity on the show.
“We ran it by (Donald) Trump and his people, and they loved the idea,” Shapiro said.
Business Office
Add a businessman to the ranks of mayors in Los Angeles County. This week, Mario Guerra is set to take the oath of office as mayor of Downey.
Guerra, 49, is president of Scanlon Guerra Burke Insurance Brokers, a Woodland Hills-based full-service insurance brokerage.
Guerra has long been active in civic affairs, but didn’t enter politics until 2005, when then-Mayor Meredith Perkins, who was termed out, asked Guerra to run for his council seat. Guerra did and won.
As is the practice in many cities in Southern California, the Downey mayor’s post rotates among the council members; Guerra was selected to succeed current Mayor David Gafin.
Perhaps it’s not surprising coming from a businessman, but Guerra said he wants to keep a lid on the city’s budget.
“I bring a fiscal conservative outlook and the ability to meet a payroll,” Guerra said.
Staff reporters Maya Meinert, Alexa Hyland and Howard Fine contributed to this column. Page 3 is compiled by Editor Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].
