Copyright 1986 by Scott Hays
Magazine: Los Angeles Magazine
Topic: Born to Shop
Byline: Scott Hays

Orson Moses, owner of the trendy Di Fiori on Camden Drive in Beverly Hills is pondering another location for his posh shoe store. "What do you think?" he was heard asking a fashion-savvy friend. "Should I open a store on Rodeo Drive? Or should I try Fashion Island or South Coast Plaza in Orange County? I hear there are a lot of big spenders down there."

Moses is not the only Beverly Hills retailer looking enviously to the south. The glitter, dazzle and million-dollar purchases commonly associated with downtown Beverly Hills are just as common to Orange County. Surprised? Take a look at Amen Wardy’s haute couture boutique in swank Newport Center Fashion Island, the shopping center atoll that was part of architect William Pereira’s vision for the Irvine Company.

How many other specialty stores sell clothes in a Venetian-ballroom setting? Especially a ballroom in a building that was once owned by J. C. Penney auto care center? It’s here, in Amen Wardy’s store, and not Beverly Hills, where Galanos had his own salon. And even Fred Hayman of Giorgio doesn’t provide a mobile home, complete with driver and sales personnel, to home-deliver fashion wardrobes for customers. Wardy also treats his customers to frequent black-tie soirees such as a recent show honoring designer Bob Mackie, where such Hollywoodites as Diahann Carroll and Deidre Hall rubbed shoulders with Orange County’s finest. Can Amen Wardy perfume be far behind?

And Wardy is not the only retailer who has rushed to Fashion Island to service the big spenders. Before opening its store in B. H., Neiman-Marcus launched its first Southern California store in Fashion Island, where customers are offered such amenities as valet parking, hand car washes and their own gold private-label credit card with a $55,000 limit. For Christmas 1985, Robinson’s Fashion Island store reported the highest sales for the 22-store chain, and men’s-apparel sales in the center ranked second out of 63 regional centers in the country. The Broadway and Bullocks Wilshire are also tenants, along with a host of specialty stores, including the largest Benetton store in the nation, run by Gay Koll, daughter of developer Don Koll.

Despite its Newport Beach address and location atop a bluff overlooking the Pacific, Fashion Island sells less in volume than Henry Segerstrom’s much larger South Coast Plaza in humble Costa Mesa. The plaza is home to over 200 shops and 32 restaurants, including Bullock’s, Nordstrom, the May Company, Saks Fifth Avenue, I. Magnum, Sears and a host of smaller stores running the gamut from Gucci and Polo and Ralph Lauren to the Gap and Contempo Casuals.

"What’s unique about this area is that we have the largest retail concentration in Southern California," says Segerstrom. "We also have a complementary assortment of theaters and restaurants. But the focus of this area is the shopping center."

Indeed, South Coast Plaza has all the trimmings, including office towers, the Westin South Coast Plaza Hotel, South Coast Repertory and the Orange County Performing Arts Center, which is scheduled to open September 29. Says Werner Escher, South Coast Plaza community-relations, director, "Henry Segerstrom could have built just a mall. But this is not just a mall, this is a destination."

A few years ago, when Donald Bren took control of the Irvine Company, efforts were launched to make Fashion Island more competitive in Orange County’s battle of the shopping malls. Last year, Fashion Island pulled its first major coup, opening Atrium Court, the first phase of what center officials are calling "a renaissance." With the help of the three-level emporium of 45 boutiques and the Irvine Ranch Farmers Market, sales jumped 21 percent last year to $193 million. That’s compared with an 8 percent increase the year before.

Phase two of that renaissance includes spending $84 million redecorate the entire center in the Mediterranean theme used for Atrium Court. Pending approval by the Newport Beach City Council, existing areas will be upgraded, and 70 stores will be added.

"We’re no longer trying to be just a high-end specialty shopping center," says Dave Mudgett, president of the Irvine Retail Properties Company, a division of the Irvine Company. "We want to be a center that has a good breadth of stores from Amen Wady to more popularly priced shops.

But meanwhile, to the north, guess who’s unleashing his own round of ambitious projects?

In the fall, after completing an $80-million renovation-and-expansion plan, Segerstrom’s South Coast Plaza will begin opening new stores across Bear Street. When completed, it will occupy twice as much retail space as before and offer eight major department stores. The 70-store annex will be anchored by the Broadway and Robinson’s, two of Fashion Island’s most prominent tenants. As part of the redevelopment, Nordstrom doubled its size by moving to adjacent quarters, and Bullock’s is also undergoing an expansion. Moreover, approximately, 20 stores will open in the old Nordstrom building. Center officials predict last year’s sales of $450 million will nearly double in the expanded plaza by 1987. "People will leapfrog other retail centers to shop here," says Maura Eggan, South Coast Plaza’s director of marketing. "They may not come here to buy just stockings, but they’ll most certainly come here to spend an entire day shopping."

To further attract customers, both centers have crafted competitive-marketing ploys that include valet parking, shuttle-bus service to major hotels and fashionable restaurants. South Coast Plaza has improved its aesthetic qualities by installing artwork. Its most notable display thus far has been a collection by Japanese-American sculptor Isami Noguchi. Fashion Island, on the other hand, in the hope of attracting a new cross section of shoppers, will feature daily entertainment programs, including concerts and light theater pieces.

Meanwhile, back at Fashion Island, the landscape is being upgraded, parking is being improved, and the Irvine Company is continuing its plans "to create a town center where people can work and live," says Barbara Roppolo, director of Newport Center Fashion Island. Perhaps underrated are the center’s large office complexes and hotels, including the just opened Four Seasons Hotel. And there are no traffic problems.

The battle for consumer dollars continues. Both centers seem determined to make their little corner of Orange County a shopper’s paradise. "Fortunately, there’s enough population to support both South Coast Plaza and Fashion Island," says South Coast Plaza’s Eggan. "But this is definitely a competitive retail climate and , more important, a buyer’s market."