Story That South Coast Rejected Bloomingdale’s Is Fueling Speculation

Speculation about the location of Orange County’s first Bloomingdale’s store heated up Wednesday after a national fashion-industry magazine reported that South Coast Plaza had rejected the well-known New York-based retailer.

Women’s Wear Daily said major tenants at South Coast had exercised their right to reject new tenants at the massive center, forcing Michael Gould, Bloomingdale’s chairman and chief executive officer, to look at a “smaller, less-prominent location” in Newport Beach’s Fashion Island.

The competition to land Bloomingdale’s pits C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, which owns South Coast Plaza, against Irvine Co., which owns Fashion Island. Both centers intend to add retail space, and Bloomingdale’s, which shoppers worldwide recognize as a trend-setting retailer, would be a plum for either.

Gould has stated that the chain is actively negotiating for space in Orange County and that he would prefer to build a store at South Coast Plaza.

But the Women’s Wear Daily report suggests that, while the mall’s owner wants to land Bloomingdale’s, some of South Coast Plaza’s department stores aren’t eager to add a major competitor. The Costa Mesa center’s biggest tenants are Bullock’s, Bullock’s Men’s, the Broadway, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Robinsons-May and Sears Roebuck & Co.

South Coast officials on Wednesday issued a press release describing the Women’s Wear Daily report as “inaccurate and misleading.”

“Affirmative discussions continue between Federated Department Stores Inc. (which owns Bloomingdale’s) and South Coast Plaza regarding Bloomingdale’s publicly announced intention to enter the Southern California retail market,” the press release said. It went on to describe the negotiations as “private and confidential.”

Fashion Island executives also stood by their previous statement that the upscale outdoor center in Newport Beach is ready, willing and able to accommodate Bloomingdale’s.

“We’ve said we’d like to have Bloomingdale’s and that we’re continuing to negotiate with them,” said Dawn McCormick, spokeswoman for Irvine Co.

While South Coast Plaza executives would not discuss whether major retailers have the right to reject potential tenants, spokeswoman Suzanne Biallot said the practice of giving major retailers a say in the tenant mix “is a concept that’s still carried by most shopping centers.”

Bloomingdale’s executives would not elaborate on Gould’s comment to Women’s Wear Daily that “it would be a shame” if South Coast Plaza does not open the door for Bloomingdale’s and that, if the chain is kept out, “we’ll go to Fashion Island. It’s as simple as that. We’re not going to get frozen out of the market” in Orange County.

Bloomingdale’s last year made public its plans to open stores in Los Angeles and Orange counties. The retailer is viewed by analysts and local officials as a catch because it would create hundreds of jobs, bolster sales tax receipts and--as important--offer a strong new attraction for shoppers.