Four stores opened this month at South Coast Plaza: Movado, Bare Escentuals, Simon Pearce and Molton Brown.
Movado recently opened its 2,100-square-foot jewelry and gift boutique in the Bloomingdale’s wing on level one.
Bare Escentuals has opened its 810-square-foot, mineral-based makeup shop near Carousel Court on level one. Bare Escentuals opened its first store in Los Gatos in 1976 but became popular through its TV infomercials.
Designer Simon Pearce opened his namesake store at the Crate and Barrel wing on level two. The store, which sells glassware and pottery, is a Southern California exclusive.
London’s Molton Brown bath and body lotion shop opened in the Bloomingdale’s wing, level two. The store is exclusive to the West Coast.
H & M; a Hit
H & M; Hennes & Mauritz so far is living up to expectations. The new store at Irvine Spectrum Center has been blowing away its performance goals, said Nina Robinson, vice president of marketing for The Irvine Company’s retail properties.
Cheap chic stores such as H & M; are doing well because of the booming “affordable luxury” trend. For example, a shopper might pair a Gucci bag, a traditional luxury item from Neiman Marcus, with an outfit that costs $100 or less from Forever 21.
Here’s an interesting tidbit: About half the customers that shop the Irvine Co.’s regional malls are men.
“Men’s business has always been strong with us,” Robinson said.
Gary’s Island and Neiman Marcus’ men’s department are strong performers at Fashion Island, she said.
“Men in the OC market are fashion savvy,” she said.
New Faces
Simon Property Group Inc.’s Brea Mall will add stores this year, including a Fossil watch store, Metropark, a men’s and women’s fashion store, and Lanc & #244;me cosmetics.
Brea Mall’s new Macy’s Home store is expected to open by the first quarter. Stores undergoing renovations include Gap, Brookstone and Precision Time, which sells and repairs watches.
Simon’s annual Super Chefs Live,a celebrity chef event,and DTour Live, Simon’s musical tour, will be happening at the Brea Mall Aug. 19 and Aug. 31 respectively.
Simon’s Laguna Hills Mall recently opened BJ’s Restaurant Brewhouse, Just Tires and Famous Footwear.
Grocer Evolution
New York-based International Council of Shopping Centers is holding a discussion among grocery store leaders on the evolution of the grocery store in Southern California. Orange County Next Generation Program on June 14 will focus on how small grocers can compete with the likes of Super Wal-Marts and Super Targets.
The meeting will be held at Dave and Buster’s at the Irvine Spectrum Center. For those who want to attend, visit www.isc.org to get more details.
Laser Tag
Laser Quest, a laser tag game store, is set to open June 29 at the Kaleidoscope Courtyards in Mission Viejo. Versent Corp., based in Canada, owns the store. Versent has 130 laser tag stores worldwide, including 60 in the U.S. and Canada.
Bilingual Chat
AT & T; Inc. has opened its fourth bilingual AT & T;,formerly Cingular Wireless,store in Santa Ana at 1705 S. Main St. The store has a bilingual staff and signage. AT & T; made a $1,500 donation to the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Ana when it opened last month.
Road Tripping
About 38.3 million people were expected to hit the roads this Memorial Day weekend, according to AAA. What are the best cars for a road trip?
Irvine-based Kelley Blue Book’s road test editors and kbb.com’s online shoppers chose a few pricey, yet snazzy models: Jaguar XKR convertible, the BMW 3-Series convertible, the Chevrolet Suburban, Dodge Charger SRT8 and the Mercedes-Benz E320 Blutec sedan as the respective top five road trip cars.
Fight Club
Honda Santa Ana is sponsoring five boxers from the Santa Ana Boxing Club, which will be fighting in the Amateur World Championship Tour in July. The dealership donated a Honda Odyssey to the club last year, in addition to other items such as bicycles, boxing equipment, clothing and shoes. The Boxing Club enrolls 100 plus teens a year in its program.
Luxury Emphasis
The recent news that New York-based Cerberus Capital Management LP is acquiring 80.1% of Chrysler Group in a $7.4 billion deal is likely to be good for Mercedes-Benz dealers, said Jack Nerad, market analyst for Irvine’s Kelley Blue Book.
It means pre-DaimlerChrysler days,more emphasis on luxury, he said. OC’s Mercedes dealers include Fletcher Jones Motorcars, Mercedes-Benz of Anaheim, Mercedes-Benz of Laguna Niguel and House of Imports in Buena Park.
For dealers of Chrysler products, the future is unclear.
“Chrysler is complicated,” he said.
It has numerous plants and contracts with various autoworker unions. Car manufacturing is a fickle and complex business, he said. Cerberus is basically a turnaround company, so right now it’s uncertain how it will proceed, he said.
The company could spin off a brand such as Jeep, he said. There has been talk of dealer closings. Local Chrysler dealers include Tuttle Click of Irvine and Orange Coast Jeep Chrysler Dodge in Costa Mesa.
In the meantime, dealer ad budgets could change. Other than that, there’s just a lot of speculation.
In three to five months, dealers will have a better sense, he said. The deal is expected to be finalized this summer.
