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University Center Looks for Boost

The ailing 50-store University Center across from UC Irvine may find relief with the addition of Trader Joe’s and 24 Hour Fitness, part of an effort by landlord The Irvine Company to revitalize the center.

“We would love to be there,” said Pat St. John, vice president of marketing and advertising for Trader Joe’s. Lease details are being ironed out, she said. 24 Hour Fitness will be relocating its UC Irvine location to the center in March.

An Irvine Co. offical acknowledged problems at the University Center, formerly known as The Market Place, but said the planned addition of 24 Hour Fitness and Trader Joe’s will boost business there.

He also said the additions were just part of a new strategic direction the company expects to detail soon.

Once a thriving retail center in the early ’90s, tenants say the center now is afflicted with a variety of ailments, but suffers mostly from a lack of customers. Consequently, a few tenants have left for more fertile grounds, some have closed, while others have been ousted.

Among the alumni: Spoons Grill & Bar, Metropolis, a dance club; Peer Records, The Improv comedy club, Dublin’s Irish Whiskey Pub, Sizzler, White Mountain Creamery Shop and Beyond the Beach, a clothing store.

“I’m staring out my window and I see one person,” said Michelle Kaplan, store manager for Carlton Hair International. “There’s absolutely no reason to come here,” Kaplan said, emphasizing the lack of a magnet store. But Trader Joe’s would definitely attract more people to the center, she said.

When bosses ask why sales are down at the Wherehouse, store manager Rob Van Dam replies, “Customer count.”

“Our foot traffic is way down,” he said. Wherehouse had 950 fewer customers this November than it did last November, Van Dam said.

Steven Labow, president and CEO of West Coast News Stands, said his customer count is down by 150 per day since the closing of Dublin’s about two months ago.

“When you lose stores, you’re going to lose foot traffic,” he said.

The center has seen more than its share of openings and closings over the past few years, including the popular Metropolis club that shut down amid allegations of drug abuse on the property.

Since Nicole Coast has been a store manager at The Haircut Store, she said “a lot of stores have come and gone.” “Really high” rents may a factor for the demise of some of the smaller stores, she said. The Irvine Co. declined to give out lease information, but West Coast News Stands said it pays $2 per square foot, near the airport area third-quarter average of $1.99 per square foot reported by CB Richard Ellis.

Compared to other center stores, however, “we’re doing really good,” with about 100 appointments per day, Coast said. But not as good as its Aliso Viejo shop, which does double the center shop’s business. She estimates that 75% of her customers are students and although The Haircut Store pays into the center’s promotional fund, it handles most of its marketing and advertising itself, offering coupons mainly in the university newspaper.

Despite some of the drawbacks, “there are still a lot of tenants that do really well,” said Karen Fetzer, marketing director at Madison Marquette, which promotes the center. Businesses with a strong niche, such as Kinko’s and Diedrich Coffee, and Steelhead Micro Brewery are successful.

Alex Uhl, owner of Whale of a Tale book store, does well at the center and attributes her success to her own strong community marketing and advertising program.

Another issue for the center is that the Irvine Co., which owns many of Irvine’s retail centers, seems to be competing with itself for tenants. Smaller centers such as the University Center are becoming feeders for the company’s larger centers like the new Irvine Spectrum. The Improv, for example, is moving out of its 280-seat club in the center,where it’s been for 14 years,and intends to open New Year’s week at its new 375-seat club at the new Irvine Spectrum, the 140,000 square feet of retail and entertainment based businesses, which opened in March.

“Everyone seems to be moving there,” said Isaac Horne, assistant manager for the Improv.

Despite the center’s problems, many of the tenants are hopeful Trader Joe’s and 24 Hour Fitness will bring the crowds and stabilize business. Uhl is sure that Trader Joe’s alone will increase foot traffic to the center. Labow, also optimistic, said “If you’ve got 24 Hour Fitness and Trader Joe’s here, you’ve got a center.” n

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