RETAIL : As Summer Closes, New Stores Open at Shopping Malls
Ah, autumn. In Orange County, people can’t depend on trees to drop their leaves to hearken the end of summer. Here, fall’s arrival is marked by the opening of new stores at area malls. Two of the glitzier debuts are coming this month at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.
Emporio Armani, a collection of men’s and women’s casual clothes by designer Giorgio Armani, opens Sunday. The 8,000-square-foot store will be the third Emporio Armani in the nation, with the other two in New York and Honolulu.
Besides clothes, the store will sell Armani-signature soaps, candles, potpourri and stationery. Later this year, a coffee bar and Italian restaurant will debut within the store.
On Sept. 21, an enlarged Cartier jewelry store will officially reopen in a 1,900-square-foot space behind a facade of green marble and polished mahogany.
“We have great faith in Orange County and South Coast Plaza, in particular, and believe that the new Cartier store with its new Parisian design, decor and architectural elements will continue to be an extremely successful retail operation for us,” said Simon J. Critchell, the New York-based jewelers’ president.
