Robinsons-May at Crystal Court to Close Monday

Robinsons-May, one of two anchor stores at Crystal Court in Costa Mesa, will be shuttered Monday, leaving the struggling mall across from South Coast Plaza with a gaping hole in its lineup.

The closure of the 180,000-square-foot store is a consolidation move by owner May Department Stores Co., which operates six other Robinsons-May stores in Orange County, including one across Bear Street at South Coast Plaza, said Milinda Martin, a Robinsons-May spokeswoman.

“The South Coast Plaza store is one of our top stores and we just thought it was better to consolidate the business into one location, rather than having two,” Martin said.

The Crystal Court store is the smallest Robinsons-May store in Orange County, both in square footage and sales volume, Martin said.

It wasn’t immediately clear how C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, the family-owned development company that owns both malls, plans to fill the void. Rita Redaelli, Crystal Court’s marketing director, did not return several phone calls Monday and other Segerstrom officials couldn’t be reached for comment.

Macy’s is the other anchor at Crystal Court, and the New York-based retailer has been operating that site as a less-than-attractive clearance center.

The 600,000-square-foot Crystal Court opened in 1986 as an extension of South Coast Plaza, the highest-grossing shopping center in the Western United States with sales last year of about $950 million. But Crystal Court never has lived up to its showy facade, suffering from low traffic and dozens of store closures.

The Segerstroms have considered a variety of moves to draw shoppers to Crystal Court, including an 800-foot-long people mover over Bear Street to South Coast Plaza.

The Segerstroms also have considered reconfiguring the tenant mix at Crystal Court, perhaps marketing it as more of a home furnishings center to play to one of retail’s hottest categories.

Robinson’s was an original anchor at Crystal Court, but May Department Stores combined it with May Co. in 1993.

Some products at the larger 239,000-square-foot South Coast Plaza store were never available at the Crystal Court store, including furniture and electronics. Some apparel lines also weren’t offered.

Robinsons-May will hold a liquidation sale today through Monday. On Jan. 5, the store will be closed to the public.

“At that point it becomes ours to clean up and prepare to return back to the mall,” she said.