Segerstrom Firm Hires Head of Operations
C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, which owns and operates South Coast Plaza, has hired a Dallas shopping center manager to oversee day-to-day operations at the Costa Mesa mega-mall and other Segerstrom properties.
Skip Stephenson, director of retail operations at the NorthPark Shopping Center in Dallas, confirmed Tuesday that he will join the Segerstrom firm May 30 as director of operations and administration.
In the newly created executive position, Stephenson, 45, will head operations at South Coast Plaza, its Crystal Court annex, and South Coast Village, the retail-restaurant complex across Sunflower Avenue from the original mall.
He also will oversee Town Center, a high-rise office complex across from the mall on Bristol Street, as well as two other smaller centers in Costa Mesa. In addition, he will supervise accounting, operations and administration at C.J. Segerstrom.
The Segerstrom firm has been run by Henry Segerstrom; his cousin, Harold Segerstrom, and his mother, Ruth Segerstrom. South Coast Plaza and other Segerstrom properties have had their own managers, who reported directly to the family members.
Under the new structure, those managers will report to Stephenson, who will in turn answer to the Segerstroms.
“The family will be able to ask one person what is happening instead of a number of people,” Stephenson said. “I’m not taking over any of their jobs.” The three family members, he said, “still run the show.”
The hiring of Stephenson marks the first time that a non-family member has had supervisory responsibility for day-to-day operations of the entire company.
The move sparked speculation among retailers attending the Las Vegas Spring Convention of the International Council of Shopping Centers that big changes may be in store for Crystal Court and South Coast Village, both of which have experienced disappointing sales.
Stephenson declined to comment on specific plans for the center. Henry Segerstrom was out of the country Tuesday and could not be reached for comment.
Stephenson worked at South Coast Plaza from 1972 through 1983, first as assistant director of leasing, then leasing director. He managed the mall for 3 years before moving to NorthPark Center in Dallas.
When he joined NorthPark Center, its sales were threatened by the Galleria, a new Dallas mall featuring such tony retailers such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Tiffany & Co., Marshall Fields and Cartier.
“With no renovating, no new merchants, he was able to bring a new vitality to NorthPark,” said R.E. (Buddy) Haydel II, president of R.E.H. Management Inc. of Oklahoma City. Haydel was one of the retailers attending the Las Vegas trade show.
NorthPark Center has 1.3 million square feet and annual sales of $300 million. South Coast Plaza and Crystal Court have a total of 2.7 million square feet and had gross sales of $650 million in 1988.
