Become a digitalPLUS subscriber. $13 for 13 weeks.  On Rodeo
Drive, the economy's booming  Steve Thorne, 54, watched
approvingly as his girlfriend tried on a pair of boots at the
Jimmy Choo boutique on Rodeo Drive last week.  "I can't
complain," he said when I asked how the economy's been treating
him. With sales of new cars down, Thorne said, his 600-employee
replacement-parts business in Philadelphia has had a record
year, and he's doing better than ever.  "Things are good," he
said. "Absolutely."  Gas and grocery prices may be more than
many working-class families can bear, home foreclosures may be
soaring, but life is just fine at the loftiest heights of the
economy.  At least that's the view from Beverly Hills, where I
spent a recent afternoon popping into pricey boutiques and
chatting with retailers and shoppers.  "Business has been crazy-
great," gushed Kim Gregory, manager of the Christofle shop on
Brighton Way, purveyor of silver flatware and other furnishings.
"It's like Christmas in here."  Shortly