South Coast Hires Marketing Director

South Coast Plaza said Wednesday it has appointed retail industry veteran Debra Gunn Downing as executive director of marketing, a new position.

Downing was formerly director of regional marketing at the Taubman Co., a real estate investment trust that owns and operates 28 regional shopping centers nationwide.

Before that, she ran her own company, Downing Marketing Communications. Her clients included the Beverly Center, Macy’s, Robinson-May and designer Richard Tyler. She also had been director of marketing at Neiman Marcus in Beverly Hills and Dallas.

Downing will oversee all aspects of the center’s marketing, including the section of South Coast Plaza formerly called Crystal Court. Rita Redaelli, who has been marketing director of that section, is relocating to the San Francisco area, where her husband has taken a new job.