![]() ![]() We experienced some attrition, but because of the high demand to be in our center, it also created opportunities to bring in incredible new retailers. How did the economic recession affect South Coast Plaza’s overall occupancy rate?Ī. ![]() It’s become our hallmark – to provide an unparalleled shopping experience for our customers that they can’t find elsewhere. That model of business hasn’t changed for us – we continue to remain true to what we do best, which is offering best of class in every category of retail. Soon after, Nordstrom chose South Coast Plaza to open its first location outside of the Pacific Northwest, followed by Saks Fifth Avenue and Tiffany & Co. It was considered risky at the time but we stuck to our plan and the vision has paid off. That was when South Coast Plaza began to move in the direction of luxury retail – we wanted to take the mainstream shopping experience and elevate it towards luxury. The following year, we opened Halston, Yves Saint Laurent and Mark Cross. A turning point came for South Coast Plaza in 1975 when we introduced Courreges, the first freestanding designer boutique in Orange County. How has that vision evolved and what is the vision for the next 10 years?Ī. We conceived a plan to develop the area’s first indoor regional shopping center, which opened five years later in 1967 with 70 stores. with an interest to develop stores on our property. As timing would have it in 1962, we were approached by Sears Roebuck & Co. Our family had been one of the country’s leading producers of lima beans – we had a successful agricultural venture, but as Orange County began to grow, we became interested in ways to further develop the land. What was your family’s vision for South Coast Plaza when it opened?Ī. Here, Segerstrom looks back at the center’s 45 years and gives a glimpse of what’s ahead: It is not immune but it is highly resilient.” There’s definitely a risk for a shopping center when many of its tenants are luxury shops, Pedraza said. South Coast Plaza wasn’t spared by the economic downturn, with Celine, Judith Leiber and Lalique among the stores that have closed their O.C. In recent years, twin forces have buffeted luxury retailing: The recession and luxury online shopping sites. “It’s there only to emphasize and reinforce that the center is a luxury enclave.” “I think it defines the Orange County lifestyle, for better or for worse, and it is a wonderful lifestyle,” Pedraza said.īut what about the presence of Sears? “It’s an inconvenient truth,” Pedraza said. Pedraza said a combination of the Southern California lifestyle, the weather and the upscale atmosphere at the center makes for a potent combination for those looking for luxury goods. to shop, they’re likely to end up in one of, or both, coasts – Florida or the Southern California.” “Remember that the products cost about a third more at stores in China. “I think it’s absolutely true that it attracts luxury shoppers from Asia, especially China, Russia, Brazil and South America,” said Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute LLC in New York, a firm that specializes in luxury brand ratings and research. Those shops join exclusive brands such as Roger Vivier, which opened its first boutique in California last spring at the center, Barbara Bui which debuts in November and three new luxury timepiece boutiques coming to the T-shaped posh corridors between Carousel Court, Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom.Īt the Hotel Bel-Air soiree, Henry Segerstrom, managing partner at South Coast Plaza, announced that the shopping center was expected to hit $1.5 billion in sales in 2012. To gild that reputation, South Coast Plaza officials are about to announce the addition of four new European designer stores opening later this year and in 2013 : REDValentino, M Missoni, Lanvin and Berluti. The message: It is an international luxury shopping destination in the same stratosphere as Avenue Montaigne in Paris, Via Montenapoleone in Milan and New Bond Street in London. As South Coast Plaza celebrated its 45th year at a private dinner – not at a venue in Orange County but at Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles on Wednesday night – it drove home the point that its reach had stretched far beyond county borders decades ago and crossed oceans over the years.
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