South Coast Plaza Revamps Its Retailers

The general manager of South Coast Plaza likes to remember how you could look down one of the mall’s busy corridors 18 years ago and see only one store--the Magic Pan--open for business.

“We were in a bit of an economic problem, and were extraordinarily grateful to have stores like Lynn’s Hallmark” open their doors, said Jim Henwood, the mall’s manager.

But that was then, and this is now.

Today, Lynn’s Hallmark is out--along with Century Stationers, the Pottery Barn, New Times, Lee’s Fireplace Shop, and Chandler’s Shoes. And Chanel, The Lenox China Store, Charles Jourdan and FAO Schwarz are in.

The 23-year-old super-regional mall has just announced a long-range plan that will add more glitzy, Rodeo Drive-style retailers, while scratching out some of the smaller, less profitable names from its directory. The changes involve the original South Coast Plaza, the Crystal Court annex and even South Coast Village, across Sunflower Avenue.

In all, 150,000 square feet of South Coast’s 2.6 million square feet of retail space will be involved in an interior remodeling and store shuffling, the most extensive face-lift in the mall’s history (excluding major expansions that added department stores).

It’s not that South Coast Plaza is indifferent toward its older tenants, Henwood said. “We care a lot about our retailers here,” he said. “But times pass . . . and this is an evolving story.”

If the Costa Mesa mall evolves as its developers plan, South Coast Plaza will be the first center in America to break the $1 billion mark in retail sales sometime this decade, Henwood said.

His prediction is based on numbers like South Coast’s sales-per-square foot, a standard barometer of retail performance. For the year ended Jan. 31, the mall recorded $720 million in sales, or $420 per square foot.

That means that South Coast’s sales are more than double the median figure of about $195 per square foot among the nation’s largest super-regional malls, according to the Urban Land Institute, a nonprofit research group based in Washington.

“I wouldn’t doubt that South Coast is one of the best performers in the country,” said Michael Beyard, director of commercial development research for the Urban Land Institute.

Why the face-lift? A rule of thumb in the retail industry is that malls and merchants must constantly update their look to keep customers coming back. Retail executives estimate that a remodeling can boost sales anywhere from 10% to 30%.

So it is not uncommon for malls to toss out stores that are not meeting sales expectations and replace them with retailers that offer better sales prospects.

The latest remodeling at South Coast does not affect the walkways, hallways and common areas such as fountains or the carousel area. Instead, retailers themselves are sparing no expense with catchy interiors to help bring business their way.

Retailers such as Wet Seal are adding special touches. The junior women’s apparel store is remodeling and tripling its size, adding a wall of 16 video-screens, TV monitors, and concrete boulder sound stages with stage lighting.

Here are some of the major remodeling plans in the works at the mega-mall:

* To make way for the Chanel store in early fall, three retailers are moving. First, Bally of Switzerland, the men’s and women’s shoes and accessories store, will relocate to a choice spot in Jewel Court, opposite Bullock’s. Naturalizer Shoes has been moved near the May Co. on the second level.

Rosenthal & Truitt, now located next to Bally, is doubling the size of its store and moving its men’s accessories to a spot opposite the Magic Pan, between the Jewel Court and Nordstrom.

And Charles Jourdan is moving upstairs opposite the new Barneys New York, the men’s and women’s clothier that is expected to open its first California store later this month.

The Limited, now located between the Limited Express and Victoria’s Secret, will nearly double its size by taking over the space of its two neighbors. Victoria’s Secret, in turn, is moving into a second-level store that is three times its current size. And the Limited Express is moving into the former Alcott & Andrews spot at Crystal Court.

* Laura Ashley Home, a home furnishings store, is scheduled to open in early May, taking about half of the space now leased by Snowden-Mize Sportswear, which is being renamed Mize Sport. That will put Laura Ashley Home right next to the original Laura Ashley and just a short stroll away from Laura Ashley Mother & Child.

* In addition, FAO Schwarz, the toy store, this spring plans to open a new store in the Carousel Court.

Meanwhile, across Bear Street at Crystal Court, the two-level Limited Express should open its doors in May and A Pea in the Pond maternity store moves into a larger store in April.

And at South Coast Village, H.G. Daniels, the art supply retailer, opens in March, joined in April by Dominion Saddlery.

And the nearly deserted Mercantile Building could soon have a tenant.

NEW STORES AT SOUTH COAST

SOUTH COAST PLAZA

Feb. 24, 1990:

* Barneys New York opens a 9,086-square-foot store.

April, 1990:

* Mother’s Work opens a 1,271-square-foot maternity store.

* FAO Schwarz opens a 4,915-square-foot store.

* Wet Seal remodels and expands almost threefold, from 1,385-square-feet to 6,775 square-feet.

May, 1990:

* Deak International, a currency exchange shop, opens a 1,000-square-foot store.

* Laura Ashley Home opens a 2,689-square-foot store.

September, 1990:

Chanel opens its 6,200-square-foot store.

CRYSTAL COURT ANNEX

December, 1989:

* Everything But Water, a beach apparel store, opens.

* Dana Dorset, a lingerie shop, opens.

* Paper Doll opens two stores with gifts and costume jewelry located on the first and second levels.

SOUTH COAST VILLAGE

March, 1990: H.G. Daniels, an art and architecture supply store, opens a 5,925-square-foot store.

April, 1990: Dominion Saddlery, an equestrian store, opens a 3,241-square-foot store.

December, 1990: Opening of Emperor’s Fortune, serving gourmet Japanese cuisine.