Triangle Square is living up to its reputation as the Bermuda Triangle, having swallowed up another leasing manager and seeing another tenant vanish, Virgin Megastore.
This time, the folks at Colliers Seeley International Inc. are going to give it their best shot. Cameron Crowner, vice president in Collier’s Irvine office, said he’s looking at the situation with a positive attitude and fresh eyes.
“It can only go one direction as far as we’re concerned,” he said.
Crowner said he’s also looking at the assignment from a patron’s perspective. Triangle Square is in his neighborhood, he said.
“I’ve gone to the movies there, bought CDs there,” he said. “I’ve got somewhat of an emotional take on this.”
Unlike past leasing agents, Crowner said he isn’t narrowing in on Triangle Square as an entertainment hub. An outdoor stage proposed by pending tenant Chronic Cantina is on hold for now, he said.
Rather Colliers is looking for tenants that will draw business despite Triangle Square’s difficult parking, one of the center’s longstanding problems.
Think an art gallery, bowling alley, a spa, one-of-a-kind restaurants or boutiques, he said.
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Triangle Square: Colliers after tenants that’ll thrive despite difficult parking |
For the vacant basement (once home to a grocery store), Crowner said he’s considering something along the lines of storage for wine or other specialized items, which would require minimal parking.
The Closet, a Costa Mesa-based chain of clothing stores, may expand at Triangle Square, but not in the former 30,000 square-foot Niketown space, Crowner said.
Triangle Square also needs to get in step with the city, according to Crowner. Relations between owner Triangle Square Investments LLC and the city have been strained at times, he said.
Another problem is proximity to South Coast Plaza and Fashion Island, which preclude some tenants from considering Triangle Square, Crowner said.
Colliers is in the process of figuring out a masterplan,”We don’t want to shotgun this and put anyone in just because they’ll pay the rent,” he said.
Bryan Norcott, senior vice president in Colliers’ Los Angeles office also is looking for tenants, Crowners said. Putting together a plan will probably take about three months, he said.
Spectrum Openings
The Irvine Spectrum Center has a slew of openings on tap: Anthropologie, bebe, Rip Curl, Under Armour, Aveda Salon & Spa, Shana, This Little Piggy Wears Cotton, Nartjie, The Sharper Image, The Body Shop, J. Stephens and Brighton Collectibles.
Playing the Odds
The lure of big jackpots has the folks hopping at Newport Tobacco in Fashion Island.
“We’re getting people we’ve never seen in our lives,” owner Annie Hallajian said.
The driver: California’s new Mega Millions multiple state lottery.
But just because people are buying a lot of lottery tickets doesn’t mean the store is making a lot of money, Hallajian said. The hope is that each new face buying a lottery ticket also picks up something else.
Retailers selling lottery tickets get about 3 cents for every ticket dollar, Hallajian said. About 34 cents of every dollar goes to schools and the rest to administrative expenses.
Stores can score big if someone buys a winning ticket there. Stores get one-half of 1% of the winning amount.
But it’s kind of like playing the lottery: “You can sell it for a lifetime and never sell the winning ticket,” Hallajian said.
Painting Vegas Red
Fullerton’s Red Hat Society opened a 32,000-square-foot temporary store in Las Vegas during its recent Big Deal-Red Hat Society Fourth Annual Convention.
Red Hat is a social group for women 50 and older and has become a business selling the group’s trademark red hats and purple clothes.
Auto Sales
Toyota Motor Corp.’s Scion was tops in Orange County for April in terms of sales percentage growth.
Scion’s registrations were up nearly 93% in April versus a year earlier, according to the recent Orange County Automobile Dealers Association’s Auto Outlook report.
Rounding out the top 10 in April sales growth: Chrysler, Land Rover, Audi, Suzuki, Acura, Volvo, Mercedes, Buick and Nissan.
Mercedes, which has been down for a few months, saw its registrations increase 7.8% in April. Meanwhile, BMW, which has been nipping at the heels of Mercedes as the county’s top luxury brand, took a turn on the slide, with a 4.7% decrease.
Lexus, the No. 3 luxury brand, had a 4.1% April increase.
