It’s More Restful--but Less Lucrative--at 2 Annex Malls : Retailing: Owner Segerstrom & Sons says it’s reviewing as-yet-undisclosed plans for revitalizing both Crystal Court and South Coast Plaza Village.
Talk to merchants at Crystal Court or South Coast Plaza Village and expect to hear the same word pop up over and over again. The word is quiet.
“The mall overall is really quiet,” one said.
“It gets rather quiet here,” another said.
“It gets so quiet you can hear the crickets,” yet a third said.
In the mall business, quiet is bad. Most retailers depend upon a steady stream of customers to attract attention to their stores. They pay premium lease rates for mall space, banking that major department stores will lure customers. No noise means no customers.
So it goes at the tri-level Crystal Court and the open-air South Coast Plaza Village. In terms of shopper interest, both pale in comparison to the hugely successful South Coast Plaza across Bear Street from Crystal Court and across Sunflower Avenue from the village.
Merchants in the newer annexes agree, however, that the situation is improving. Mall owner C.J. Segerstrom & Sons has undisclosed plans to revitalize the village, a blueprint that might add a trendy Planet Hollywood restaurant in the present-day site of a Reuben’s Restaurant on Sunflower Avenue, or at two other sites.
And Anton Segerstrom, general manager of Crystal Court, said a new high-frequency tram linking his mall with South Coast Plaza has brought in 1,600 to 2,000 new customers a week. The Crystal Court parking lots are 14% fuller this year than last, another sign that more customers are exploring that mall, officials said.
“The center is as healthy as it’s been since the opening,” said Segerstrom, son of the company’s managing partner, Henry T. Segerstrom. “We have more tenants now.”
Just how healthy, Segerstrom will not say. The company consolidates sales figures for Crystal Court and South Coast Plaza Village with South Coast Plaza and refuses to disclose individual performances of each shopping venue.
The ostensible reason is that Segerstrom considers the three as a single project, but it conveniently masks unremarkable sales at Crystal Court and the village.
There are many retailers, however, who are content at Crystal Court and South Coast Plaza Village. Repeat customers know where to find them, minimizing the importance of walk-in browsers.
Consider shopper Gary Goodman, for example.
“I come here for specific stores. I don’t shop the whole mall,” the San Clemente resident said as his wife took their young son and daughter for a spin on Crystal Court’s carousel, a small-size version of the big one at South Coast Plaza’s Carousel Court.
Some retailers say they prefer to be apart from the hubbub--and competition--of South Coast Plaza. Ann Fiebiger, manager of the Pea in the Pod maternity store in Crystal Court, said her store has a distinctive apparel collection that makes it a destination for expectant mothers.
“We draw a lot of our own customers,” she said.
And while most retailers say more foot traffic would help business, the mall attracts those who want a more casual and unhurried shopping environment.
That’s not to say they would not prefer to have their boutiques at South Coast Plaza, where competition for selling space is notoriously fierce. “I’d give a portion of my anatomy to be over there,” acknowledged David Schaffner, proprietor of a holographic art gallery in a space near Crystal Court’s JW Robinson’s anchor store.
Susan Spiritus, who operates her photographic art gallery on Crystal Court’s top floor, said she has inquired several times in the past five years about relocating to South Coast Plaza. Each time the request was rebuffed.
The mall’s managers fear that if a retailer is allowed to move to South Coast Plaza, there will be a stampede of others who want to go as well, she said.
There is at least one retailer who is going in the other direction--moving from South Coast Plaza to Crystal Court. Abercrombie & Fitch plans to relocate its casual-wear store from its spot near Saks Fifth Avenue in May to larger quarters in Crystal Court.
Segerstrom said the firm has taken steps to increase patronage at the two annex malls. While Crystal Court was originally envisioned as a high-end collection of apparel stores featuring American designers, more middle-price retailers have been placed into that mall to broaden its appeal to a greater number of consumers.
As a result, Crystal Court has brought over such mainstream retailers as Foot Locker and the Judy’s women’s apparel chain, which also have stores in the main mall across the street.
Some retailers at Crystal Court say they appreciate the gesture, but the new stores have failed to attract new business because customers figure they can visit their companion stores in South Coast Plaza.
Crystal Court still has some problems with its store mix. There are plenty of places to buy gifts, but no greeting-card shops.
To bring in customers, the mall has started a jazz concert series in its atrium on Sunday afternoons. Jennifer Gordon, marketing director for the mall, said listeners are showing up early and patronizing the shops, or dining afterward. One merchant, however, said he doubts the effect has been that strong.
“As soon as the concert is over, people leave,” he said.
The problem at South Coast Plaza Village is a lack of customers and too few retailers. Things got worse when the Barker Bros. furniture store closed in the fall. Its space, known as the Mercantile Building, was once subdivided into stores for 20 merchants and is now empty. Two dozen shops, restaurants and offices remain.
Merchants grew so displeased with the lack of business at this open shopping area northeast of Sunflower Avenue and Bear Street that they banded together twice in the past two decades to file suit against the Segerstrom company, resulting in settlements.
But Wilhelm Gustaf Magnuson, co-owner of the Gustaf Anders restaurant, said loneliness at the village is not a problem for him. Diners know where to find his restaurant--it is a popular lunch spot for Segerstrom executives, among others--and parking is never a problem.
“The village is always immaculate. The flowers are changed all the time,” he said.
Harold Jones, who operates the La Tortuga store with his wife, Joan, said that he too likes the village and is impressed with the Segerstrom staff. When a weekend fair resulted in a trampled patch of grass, crews immediately replaced the turf.
“We like the casual atmosphere. We are very well treated,” he said.
Henry and Anton Segerstrom said plans are afoot for the village. Henry Segerstrom will say only that the village will become even more “eclectic” than suggested by its present mix of Swedish, Italian and Japanese restaurants, along with an optometrist’s office, a shoe-repair shop and a glamour-photography studio.
What could make it so is Planet Hollywood, an Orange County version of the movie-themed restaurant that premiered last year in New York.
