South Coast Plaza opened 17 stores, mostly targeting its luxury market, in 2008.
New to the shopping center this year were 55DSL, adidas Originals, AG Adriano Goldschmied, Balenciaga, Calvin Klein, Canali, Christian Louboutin, De Beers, Harry Winston, NapaStyle, Oscar de la Renta, Piaget, Rolex, PureBeauty, SoCa St. John, Tourbillon and Yves Delorme.
Oscar de la Renta (pictured) was among the tenants of the newly christened Penthouse. The third-level shopping area adjacent to Nordstrom was rebranded this year.
Click HERE for the a slide show of the Penthouse.
The in-store dining trend blossomed in 2008 as well, with Charlie Palmer at Bloomingdale’s and Signature Kitchen at Macy’s Home opening this year. The latter, which began doing business in December, encompasses three eateries in an upscale food court environment.
Photo courtesy of South Coast Plaza
More from the South Coast Plaza blog:
- South Coast Quiksilver not among those closing
- Z’Tejas hosts lunch, surprises guests
- Test your knowledge of South Coast Plaza
- Controversial ministry leader seen shopping at luxury store
- 9 other ways for guys to kill time at South Coast
- Readers, do you shop in Las Vegas, too?
For more on South Coast Plaza, see list of links on right-hand side of this blog.
And I wonder how many stores will close in ‘09?
Personally, I hope the rumors about Sears are true and they close their South Coast location. I would love for Nordstrom to level that Sears and build a truly great Nordies like they have in downtown Seattle or San Francisco. Even the Nordstrom I went to recently at a big mall in Portland, Oregon outguns the South Coast Nordies when it comes to size, restaurants, boutiques, day spa, etc.
Orange County needs a truly epic Nordstrom like they have up in San Fran, Portland and Seattle. ‘09 and even 2010 may be tough, but the long term outlook should warrant a major Nordstrom. Unless they are using their 2010 new store at Fashion Island to become the OC Flagship for Nordstrom, further dooming the South Coast location to second string status permanently?
Ms. Shih, have you heard anything? Have you been to the big Nordstroms of the Pacific Northwest with the large day spas and impressive amenities?
Hi, I have not been to the “epic Nordies” that you refer to although I’m curious myself how the Fashion Island one will fit in. I’ll ask their PR folks the next chance I get.
Also, according to a previous Register story, Sears owns the land it’s on, so I would guess they are less likely to go anywhere. Unless the whole business goes kaput …
OK, I have some details on the Fashion Island Nordstrom. At 138,000 square feet, it will be smaller than the South Coast Plaza one - the largest in O.C. at 235,000 square feet - and the downtown Seattle one, which is 380,000 square feet. For comparison, the Irvine Spectrum store is 130,000 square feet.
Nordstrom spokeswoman Brooke White told me that they have become more efficient in using their space so there’s a better ratio of selling space to storage space, for example. So stores smaller on paper should still feel big.
Plus, Nordstrom has to work within the limitations of the space it’s given by the shopping center - in Fashion Island’s case, the former Macy’s.
FI will be two stories, which is now the preferred height based on a model of sales efficiency.
The main differences with the Seattle store are that it has a full spa, Chanel shop-in-shops and just more in each department.
OK, that was probably way more info than you were expecting!