Business Watch:

It boasts one of the richest collections of stores under one roof in Southern California, including a number of Orange County exclusives and high-end boutiques.

It’s been renowned for nearly four decades as Orange County’s premier shopping destination — topping even Fashion Island, its nearby rival owned by none other than the Irvine Co.

In short, South Coast Plaza has emerged as the most prestigious, most popular and highest-earning mall in the region.

Except that, officially speaking, it isn’t a mall.

The shopping center’s media relations department removed the word “mall” from its publicity materials a few years ago, opting instead to refer to the destination as a “planned retail center.” Werner Escher, South Coast Plaza’s executive director of domestic and international markets, said the word “mall” sounded commonplace to most people, and he and his colleagues preferred a moniker with a little more panache.

“If we’re attracting the visitor outside of the core market — and I define the core market as a 100-mile radius — everybody knows South Coast Plaza,” Escher said. “The store selection we offer, the diversity of dining, everyone knows that in the core market. Beyond that, looking at the visitor, the traveling public, why would I be attracted to go to the South Coast Plaza mall if I have a mall in my hometown? That’s not necessarily going to be compelling enough for me to visit if I have a mall right near my house.”

South Coast Plaza’s news releases refer to it as “the highest-grossing planned retail center in the United States.” Almost everywhere else, though, the household word seems to prevail. Wikipedia calls South Coast Plaza “an upscale shopping mall,” while such travel websites as Family Vacation Getaways, California Information and Seeing Stars in Hollywood feature the term prominently.

Even the Google summary for www.southcoastplaza.com labels it “Orange County’s largest shopping mall” — although Escher said he hoped to correct that.