San Juan, Irvine Post Big Gains

Discount centers seemed to play a big role in increasing taxable sales during the third quarter of 1988, according to preliminary figures from the State Board of Equalization. Among Orange County cities, San Juan Capistrano had the largest increase, 42.3%, from the year-earlier quarter. The city, in which a Price Club opened a year earlier, saw sales rise to $59.4 million in the 1988 third quarter. Irvine, which added a Mervyn’s and a Target last year at its Crossroads shopping center, saw retail sales reach $484.1 million during the third quarter, a 27.6% gain from the same period the year before. Taxable sales countywide reached $6.4 billion, an 8.9% jump from the third quarter of 1987.

TAXABLE SALES BY CITY Third Quarter, 1988 Total % Change City (in millions) Year to Year Anaheim $752.2 +4.3 Santa Ana $642.7 +15.6 Costa Mesa $536.7 +12.2 Irvine $484.1 +27.6 Huntington Beach $376.7 -1.5 Fullerton $304.6 +5.6 Garden Grove $293.2 +11.5 Newport Beach $253.5 +8.1 Buena Park $219.3 +3.1 Westminster $184.1 +0.9 Brea $130.2 +7.4 Tustin $125.1 -9.8 Mission Viejo $124.4 NA Fountain Valley $94.6 +14.9 La Habra $90.8 +7.4 Placentia $66.4 +15.6 Cypress $62.0 +9.8 San Juan Capistrano $59.4 +42.3 Stanton $59.4 +7.4 San Clemente $56.6 +12.4 Laguna Beach $51.8 +14.5 Los Alamitos $43.7 -3.9 Yorba Linda $30.6 +13.0 Seal Beach $25.4 +2.8 La Palma $13.7 NA Villa Park $2.6 NA Orange County $6,399.4 +8.9 State Total $63,424.4 +7.2

Source: State Board of Equalization