Macy’s Clearance Store Will Switch to Home Furnishings
Macy’s clearance store at Crystal Court in Costa Mesa will be transformed into the chain’s largest home furnishings store in the West by the end of the next year, the giant department-store chain announced Monday.
The move is expected to provide a long-awaited boost to the struggling annex of South Coast Plaza, converting it into something of a home furnishings pavilion.
In January, Crate & Barrel announced that it would open a home furnishings store in the other anchor slot at the opposite end of Crystal Court, which was vacated by Robinsons-May.
Crystal Court already includes half a dozen other stores related to home furnishings or accessories, including Kitchen Things, Bath & Body Works and Pottery Barn.
“With the dramatic growth in Orange County, investing in this idea in this particular location is not only timely but meets the demands of the customer,” Macy’s West Chairman Michael Steinberg said in a statement.
A spokeswoman for C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, the family enterprise that owns both South Coast Plaza and Crystal Court, said the company does not intend to focus solely on “one type of retail category” for the smaller mall.
“We will continue to build on the breadth and collection of the vast type of retailing we have and that South Coast Plaza is known for,” said Rita Redaelli.
Still unclear is which retailers will occupy the remaining space left behind by Robinsons-May. Crate & Barrel will use only one-fifth of the 215,000 square feet that the department store had occupied.
A planner for the city of Costa Mesa said the interior of the property is being divided for use by at least four retailers. Redaelli said no other lease agreements have been signed yet for that site. At least two other big-name retailers that are expanding into the home furnishings category, Eddie Bauer and Banana Republic, have expressed an interest in Crystal Court.
The Macy’s home store, at three levels and 189,000 square feet, will be Macy’s first in Orange County to be devoted to home furnishings. It is scheduled to open in time for the holiday season in 2000.
The company is converting the space because home furnishing is Macy’s West’s fastest-growing segment.
“Our customer wants more; they’ve asked for more,” said Merle Goldstone, a Macy’s West spokeswoman. “Stand-alone home stores have proved to be a very good idea.”
The Crystal Court Macy’s currently sells mostly discounted merchandise. Officials said they do not know how long that store will remain open. The renovation will begin early next year.
Macy’s has two other stores across Bear Street in the main section of South Coast Plaza, one devoted to menswear and one that offers women’s and children’s apparel and accessories, housewares and furniture.
When the new home store opens, the Macy’s at South Coast Plaza will drop housewares and furniture and expand its women’s and children’s offerings, Goldstone said.
“We’re going to pull it all together under one roof, which is the way people like to shop for homes,” she said.
Macy’s West, a division of Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores Co., operates 101 stores in six Western states. It has eight stand-alone home stores, the nearest in San Diego. The Orange County store will serve as a prototype and will feature a “new way of merchandising,” about which Macy’s officials declined to elaborate.
The company plans to open another Southland home store this year, in Torrance at the Del Amo Shopping Center.
Crystal Court is in the midst of a larger renovation that includes a new facade around the entire building and a pedestrian walkway over Bear Street to connect it to South Coast Plaza. The face lift will include new flooring, ceilings, lighting and restrooms. The Crystal Court name itself will be dropped.
