County Malls Show Healthy Sales Gains
Taxable sales at Orange County’s 13 major malls climbed past $2 billion last year, topping the previous year’s total by 12%.
Expansions at local malls and the county’s overall strong economy seemed to be key factors in the strong increase. By comparison, from 1985 to 1986, taxable sales rose a total of only 5.9% to $1.87 billion.
According to the State Board of Equalization, regional malls here took almost $1 of every $5 spent in retail stores in Orange County, excluding auto-related purchases. The county malls’ percentage increase seems particularly strong in light of the fact that retail generally hit a slump last year.
Leading the list of malls in terms of increases were MainPlace/Santa Ana, Huntington Center and South Coast Plaza--all of which completed major renovations and expansions.
A major face-lift played a key role in boosting MainPlace/Santa Ana’s sales 134.3% last year to $82 million. The massive renovation of the mall, formerly called Fashion Square, brought Nordstrom and JW Robinson’s to the center, as well as more than 100 specialty shops.
At Huntington Center, sales jumped to $136 million, a 34.7% increase from last year. The mall, which added Mervyn’s and 37 new stores, sprinted to fifth place from ninth in taxable sales among the county’s malls.
South Coast Plaza--the Costa Mesa mall that leads the county in size and sales--saw gross taxable sales jump 21.7% to $595 million. Last year marked the first full 12 months of operation for South Coast’s Crystal Court annex, which included the Broadway and Robinson’s stores.
Mission Viejo Mall--located in the booming south county area--saw a healthy 8.9% sales increase to $122 million.
The losers last year seemed to be Westminster Mall, Anaheim Plaza and the City Shopping Center in Orange--all of which saw sales drop. For Westminster, the decline was 1.1%, for Anaheim Plaza, it was 1.2%. The City experienced the largest drop in sales, of 2.4% to $80 million.
RANKING OF COUNTY MALLS
Ranked by 1987 taxable sales. Figures in millions of dollars)
% Change Rank 1987 Rank from 1986 in 1986 South Coast Plaza $595 1 +21.7% 1 Brea Mall 188 2 +5.6 4 Westminster 186 3 -1.1 2 Fashion Island/Newport Center 173 4 nc 3 Huntington Center 136 5 +34.7 9 Laguna Hills 133 6 +2.3 5 Buena Park Mall 131 7 +7.4 6 Mission Viejo 122 8 +8.9 8 Mall of Orange 121 9 +4.3 7 Anaheim Plaza 83 10 -1.2 11 *MainPlace/Santa Ana 82 12 +134.3 12 City Shopping Center 80 11 -2.4 10 La Habra 28 13 nc 13
* Formerly Santa Ana Fashion Square, reopened in September, 1987.
Source: State Board of Equalization
