South Coast Plaza

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Mall facts and statistics
South Coast Plaza


Location	Costa Mesa, California, United States
Opening date	March 1967
Developer	Henry J. Segerstrom
Management	C.J. Segerstrom & Sons
Owner	Segerstrom Family
No. of stores and services	280
No. of anchor tenants	5
Total retail floor area	2.8 million square feet (260,000 m²) (GLA)
No. of floors	3
Website	http://www.southcoastplaza.com

South Coast Plaza is an upscale shopping mall in Costa Mesa, California, in the affluent Orange County, and one of the most identifiable, alluded to, and famous malls in the United States. In 2004, Women's Wear Daily reported the mall to have had the highest sales per square foot of any mall in California, at about $800.

1 History
2 Architecture
3 Today
4 Pop Culture
5 Location
- 5.1 Department Store Anchors
- 5.2 Directory
6 References
7 External link

[edit] History

In March 1967, Henry J. Segerstrom, head of C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, opened a shopping center called "South Coast Plaza" in one of his family's lima bean fields in rapidly growing Orange County. Originally anchored by a May Company that had opened in late 1966 and Sears, the initial phase of the mall was designed by Victor Gruen. It was built the same year as The Irvine Company's neighboring Fashion Island in Newport Beach.

The success of the center brought rapid expansion an additional wing with Bullock's in 1973, I. Magnin in 1977, Nordstrom in 1978, and Saks Fifth Avenue in 1979. The opening of the Nordstrom store is considered a seminal event as it was the first Nordstrom store outside of the Pacific Northwest and marked the West Coast and later the nationwide expansion of its chain.

In 1986, the center began opening its largest expansion, with Nordstrom replacing its store with a new location twice the size of the original in May, and the addition of a free-standing wing across Bear Street, identified as "Crystal Court" and anchored by The Broadway and J.W. Robinson's, which opened in the fall. These two stores were anchors at nearby Fashion Island, but were willing to cannibalize sales at that location due to the strong drawing power of South Coast. This signified South Coast's elevation from regional shopping mall to national shopping destination. The expansion continued in fall 1987 with an enlargement of Bullock's and the redevelopment of the former Nordstrom as additional mall space, including a Tiffany's that opened in fall 1988. While successful, this new standalone wing never performed as well as the original center, its separation due both to land restrictions and to the May Co. and Broadway's routine refusal to allow each other to build stores at their existing centers. This later reason explains the proximity of so many competing malls throughout Southern California.

In 1991, the I. Magnin location was closed and reopened as the first standalone Bullock's Men's store, May Co. and Robinson's merged in 1993 to form Robinsons-May, retaining both locations as separate full-line stores, while the two Bullock's locations and Broadway store were all renamed Macy's in early 1996, with again like Robinson-May, separate stores being maintained on either side of Bear Street. In 1995, prior to the Federated Department Stores/Broadway Stores merger, Bloomingdale's was in negotiations to build a location at South Coast Plaza, but other anchor tenants would not give permission for its construction. When Federated merged all the stores into its Macy's West division in 1996, it opted to not convert Broadway's Crystal Court location to Bloomingdale's.

Another $100,000,000 renovation and reconfiguring of the center came in 2000, with Robinsons-May closing their Crystal Court location and expanding the original May Co. store. The separate Crystal Court name was dropped and the free-standing wing was joined to the original center by a 600-foot-long pedestrian bridge across Bear Street. This wing was reoriented toward home furnishings, anchored by the former Broadway store, which was refurbished as Macy's Home and Furniture. The former J.W. Robinson's store was redeveloped as mall space at the time, housing primarily Crate and Barrel, Borders Books and Music, and Sport Chalet.

In March 2006, the Robinsons-May store, historically the first store at South Coast Plaza as the May Company, was closed as part of its merger with Macy's and its location will reopen after significant renovations as Bloomingdale's in spring 2007.

South Coast Plaza is still privately held by the Segerstrom Family, one of the few shopping centers in the United States that have not been purchased by a Real Estate Investment Trust/REIT.

[edit] Architecture

South Coast Plaza has always had a strong design element in its building. In addition to the original center by Victor Gruen, numerous additions and store buildings over the years included designs by such architects as William Blurock and Ellerbe Becket. The 1986-1987 expansion included a recurring pyramid motif. Chandeliers took the shape of inverted pyramids, and the escalator atrium leading to the mall's third floor is loosely modeled after the Grand Gallery of the Pyramid of Khufu. In 2000, the pedestrian bridge, known as Bridge of Gardens, and accompanying Garden Terrace were completed by landscape architect Kathryn Gustafson.

In 2006, Anton Segerstrom decided that the mall is well overdue for a remodel. Construction began in Summer 2006 on a $30 million dollar remodeling project to update the mall. South Coast Plaza will undergo an intense makeover, with Italian ivory marble on the floors, and travertine to surround and build new water and fountain features. Modern and contemporary oil-rubbed bronze will replace the very dated brass side railings and all door/elevator hardware. Construction began in the future Bloomingdale's wing and will continue to spread outward, so that the remodeled areas will be complete for the grand opening of Bloomingdale's in Spring 2007. The renovation is to be completed in time for the 40th anniversary of South Coast Plaza, in Fall 2007, just one year later. This is the largest remodel for the mall since the construction of the Bridge of Gardens connecting the main building with the West building (formerly known as Crystal Court) in 1999, and the exterior/interior remodel of the West building.

[edit] Today

South Coast Plaza has about 2.8 million square feet (260,000 m²) of gross leasable area and over 280 stores, making it one of the largest shopping malls in the United States. Its stores generate revenue of more than a billion dollars per year, making it the highest-volume mall in the United States. It is also home to the Orange Lounge, a small branch of the Orange County Museum of Art.

South Coast Plaza is a premiere destination for ultra-luxury and luxury shopping. Many ultra-luxury brands, which have very few boutiques nationwide, have chosen South Coast Plaza as one of their few (and for some brands, their only) store locations. Many luxury brand stores gather here as well, with some, such as Tiffany's, reporting their locations at South Coast as having the highest sales in the United States.

In 2004, South Coast Plaza received the Federal Trademark as "The Ultimate Shopping Resort."

South Coast Plaza also houses the flagship locations for a handful of brands and stores. The new Bloomingdale's location will be an addition to the San Francisco West Coast Flagship and the full-line store in San Diego, both opened in Fall 2006.

To date, South Coast Plaza continuously brings in approximately 24 million visitors annually.

[edit] Pop Culture

The mall's collection of boutiques and department stores has made it one of the most alluded-to malls in the world. Characters in The OC, Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, Clueless, and Beverly Hills 90210 all mention this particular shopping center as a center of teenage life. One sign of South Coast Plaza's prominence is its frequent inclusion as a store location in designer advertisements, alongside world shopping destinations like London, Paris, Milan, Las Vegas, Beverly Hills and New York City.

[edit] Location

The mall is adjacent to Interstate 405 in an area now called South Coast Metro, which includes portions of the cities of Costa Mesa and Santa Ana. Metro Pointe Mall is across the street from South Coast Plaza and the two major malls are the etymology behind the neighborhood naming.