Orange County shoppers spent a lot more money in their own backyards in the last part of 1999.
Sales at the new upscale Shops at Mission Viejo started picking up in the third quarter and surged from $34.3 million to $92.5 million, or 169%, in the fourth quarter.
After years in the shadows of newer and glitzier shopping centers, the mall’s owner, Simon Property Group, kicked off a massive $150 million renovation in 1998 and reopened the new upscale Shops at Mission Viejo. The mall’s yearly sales were up 62% for a total of $168.4 million, according to figures released last week by the city of Mission Viejo.
The upgraded mall grew 45% in space to 1.2 million square feet and added 90 new specialty stores and restaurants as well as new Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue department stores.
Up the road at South Coast Plaza,a rival destination shopping center for south Orange County residents,the numbers show a different picture.
Consumer spending was up a comparatively modest 1% at South Coast Plaza last year, to $849 million. But overall sales for the two sides of the Costa Mesa center grew 5.9% to $990.6 million, fueled by heavier traffic at the former Crystal Court on Bear Street, where sales grew 51% to $141.2 million.
Tony Cherbak, a retail analyst at Deloitte & Touche LLC, said despite the new look of the Shops At Mission Viejo, South Coast Plaza remains the king of shopping centers with five times the revenue of the Shops. Still, Cherbak concedes that the newly renovated Shops at Mission Viejo likely sliced some sales away from South Coast Plaza.
“I can’t say (the Shops at Mission Viejo) doesn’t have any effect on South Coast Plaza, but it’s not close enough to do major damage,” Cherbak said. “(Consumers) are not going to drive 25 miles to Costa Mesa unless they are going to a specialty store that doesn’t exist in Mission Viejo.”
The former Crystal Court portion of South Coast Plaza on Bear Street is beginning to show signs of new life since its makeover got started last year. The center opened new anchors Crate & Barrel and Borders Books & Music last year, closed its Macy’s store for renovation in December and opened a slew of other smaller shops.
This year new stores are opening including Eddie Bauer, the Pottery Barn, a new 189,000-square-foot Macy’s Home Store and the long-awaited new Bridge of Gardens featuring Pascal Caf & #233; will connect the two centers.
South Coast Plaza, which prides itself as offering consumers one-of-a-kind upscale retailers, isn’t resting on its laurels.
The center is taking a new approach to marketing with the hiring of DGWB Advertising in Irvine and plans to launch a new hipper campaign next year. Meanwhile retailers are seeing the growing South Orange County area as a potential new market.
