The food store, first announced in 2007, was expected to open this fall. Dean & DeLuca recently stated plans to add more departments to the store, with the projected opening pushed back to mid-2010.
Original announcements said the store would be 23,000 square feet.
“We have been searching for quite some time for the ideal location for a West Coast flagship store and I believe we have finally found it,” company Chairman Leslie Rudd said in a 2007 release. “Not only is Fashion Island a great match demographically for Dean & DeLuca, but we believe the coastal lifestyle embodied in Newport Beach is a perfect fit for the Dean & DeLuca brand. We have no doubt that this new development at Fashion Island will be nothing less than sensational.”
The decision apparently was abrupt; the retailer discussed its plans for Fashion Island in public as recently as last week.
“We plan to open our Newport Beach market in summer 2010,” a Dec. 17 Twitter post by a company representative read. “No date has been set in stone.”
Christensen said the center is now looking for a replacement tenant.
Representatives at Dean & DeLuca were not immediately available for comment.
The Kansas-based company also operates a store in Napa Valley; this would have been its first Southern California store. It got its start in New York City in 1977, and operates in luxury destinations around the world.
