Retailers

Fashion Island and South Coast Plaza retailers will open as early as midnight for Black Friday shopping, officials from both centers said Monday. Macy's at both locations will open at midnight, as will Express at Fashion Island. At South Coast Plaza, many stores will begin opening at 4 a.m., including Guess, Express, Ann Taylor, the Disney Store, Corner Bakery, Zara, Foot Locker, Sears and others. At Fashion Island, Urban Outfitters will open at 4 a.m.; Dick's Sporting Goods and Bath & Body Works at 5 a.m.; Anthropologie and Original Penguin at 6 a.m.; Carrol Boyes and Victoria's Secret at 7 a.m.; Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's and Barnes & Noble at 8 a.m.; and Neiman Marcus and other stores at 9 a.m. Just in time for the holidays, Los Angeles-based women's fashion retailer Johnny Was opened its first county location at Fashion Island this month.

Developers planning a large, furniture-focused shopping center announced Wednesday a list of retailers that are expected to fill more than half of the center's available retail space. Birtcher Development and Investments, based in Irvine, released the list of tenants at a breakfast event held Tuesday at the site of the planned shopping center. The company is planning to build the South Coast Home Furnishings Centre on the land currently occupied by the former regional headquarters of State Farm Insurance near Sunflower and Hyland avenues.

Jennifer Kho COSTA MESA -- Although South Coast Plaza officials said the number of visitors this holiday season matched last year's figures, retailers said shoppers spent their money differently this year. Jamie Prada, manager at toy store FAO Schwartz, said customers bought less clothing and more housewares, toys and electronics. "It was much better than last year for us," Prada said. "We were one of the few retailers in South Coast Plaza that did fairly well.

A history-making watch store at South Coast Plaza, construction crews at Fashion Island and the start of a sweeping renovation at Triangle Square are among the changes planned for 2008 in the Newport-Mesa retail community. A number of shopping centers in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa enjoyed a watershed year in 2007. South Coast Plaza and Fashion Island both turned 40 years old, with the former renovating its interior and hosting a monthlong exposition with the Italian government.

s counter-part at South Coast Plaza, will contain the “full breadth of what Nordstrom has to offer,” store spokeswoman Kendall Ault said. In addition to having comparable merchandise, services and eateries, the Fashion Island branch will feature brands in women’s shoes and cosmetics new to the Nordstrom chain, she said in an e-mail. The new store is expected to draw thousands of new shoppers to the center and six-figure sales tax revenues. Although an exact figure was not given by store spokespersons, a similar retailer of the same size could generate between $550,000 and $600,000 in annual sales tax, according to Doug Svensson, an economic consultant to the city of Newport Beach.

In a downturn in the economy, Carl F. Bucherer hedged their bets and focused on supporting sales associates of independent retailers across the country. As an incentive, Carl F. Bucherer teamed up with Porsche Newport Beach, part of the POWER Automotive Group, to provide a one-year’s lease of the new Porsche Cayman to any sales associate that sold more than $200,000 worth of Carl F. Bucherer fine timepieces. As success would have it, there are 10 retailers from around the United States (including two local Newport Beach retailers – Swiss Watch Gallery and Mardo Fine Jewelry)

Hip youth retailers to open in Burbank EQ3, a gallery offering furniture from retailers like Urban Outfitters, Active, O My Sole and Skyblupink, will open in Downtown Burbank this winter in the space formerly occupied by Book City. The store's motto regards "furniture as fashion" and will feature products for living, dining, sleeping and working. The store is scheduled to open in time for the holiday season. Palliser Furniture, Canada's largest manufacturer of assembled home furniture, began the EQ3 concept in 2001.

Paul Clinton Droves of shoppers descended on local shopping centers Friday, spurred on by the after-Thanksgiving Day discounts that traditionally kick off the holiday retail season. As a result, and perhaps in concert with an economy that's beginning to show signs of improvement, retailers said they expect healthy sales leading up to Dec. 25. Mall officials said Friday's big turnout was helped by the start of Hanukkah, as well as a shortened shopping season this year.

Paul Clinton Local retailers struggled to hit their sales forecasts for the holiday shopping season, early indicators show, but at the same time, Costa Mesa's powerhouse center, South Coast Plaza, seems to have bucked the somewhat soft retail atmosphere, officials said. At Newport Beach's Fashion Island, store sales for November and December increased this year at Bloomingdale's, but managers of the high-end chain said they hoped sales would be stronger.

Two more stores in Fashion Island are slated to close, and at least two other national retailers have left the center this year. The children’s and maternity boutique Babystyle is scheduled to close at Fashion Island at the end of April and the home furnishings store Shabby Chic will close June 1. Both retailers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year. National retailers Pottery Barn and the Body Shop both closed their doors at Fashion Island in January when their leases expired.

Earlier this week the Costa Mesa City Council gave unanimous approval for city representatives to attend an upcoming out-of-state convention, though not without discussing the intricacies of doing so on the city's dime. Mayor Jim Righeimer, Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger, city CEO Tom Hatch and three other city officials are scheduled to attend the International Council of Shopping Centers' annual Las Vegas convention in May, which, according to city staff, helps Costa Mesa "attract and retain top-level retail and dining establishments.

The Newport Beach City Council took a significant step to move forward with plans for a mixed-use development Tuesday night, passing a spate of measures laying regulatory groundwork for the the Uptown Newport project. In a unanimous vote, members certified an environmental impact report for the project, approved a tentative tract map for the 25-acre site in the airport area, agreed to amend city zoning regulations to accommodate the project and approved a development agreement with the Irvine-based Shopoff Group.

Re. "Commentary: It's time to revitalize the Peninsula Zone," : (Jan. 23): The author correctly describes the condition of the patient, urban decay. However, the author then incorrectly diagnoses the cause of the condition as the result of City Council neglect or poor city planning. Not surprisingly, this leads to an incorrect conclusion: the entire Peninsula zone will be significantly improved if the council just chooses the right development plan for the old City Hall site. Without foundation, the author writes, "authorities sadly neglected the area for the priorities of more commercially popular and newer developed areas round Fashion Island," where planning was assisted by Irvine Co. planners.

Rachel Klemek is coming to Costa Mesa to make bread. Lots of it. The Irvine resident's Blackmarket Bakery is expanding her business to a second location at the Camp. Unlike the original Blackmarket - "hidden away" for nearly eight years on Sky Park Circle in Irvine, near John Wayne Airport - this one off Bristol Street is going to have a rotating rack bread oven. With it, Klemek and her team plan to be going "heavy duty" on rolls and buns as well as selling Kéan coffee, items from the Marché Noir line, Blackmarket favorites and some new desserts.

Baycrest Liquor in Costa Mesa was a hive of activity Friday as the Mega Millions lottery jackpot climbed to a record-high $640 million. Baycrest is one Orange County's eight " Lucky Retailers," as determined by the California Lottery. Which explains why just after noon, about 30 customers were waiting in a line that wrapped past the store's isles and out its double doors, all for a chance to snag some potentially winning numbers. Bryan Nye has owned the store on 17th Street with his mother, Sylvia Bice, for the past 14 years.

Sit 'n Sleep and the California Department of Veterans Affairs have teamed up to provide veterans with jobs at Southern California stores, the mattress retailer announced this week. Stores in Costa Mesa, Santa Ana, Anaheim and Laguna Hills will be among the locations hiring clerical, sales and warehouse positions, according to a news release. In all, about 50 positions will be filled by veterans across Southern California. "We strive to give back to the veterans who have given so much for us and help provide a job to return to after so bravely serving our country," said Larry Miller, chairman and executive officer of the Gardena-based Sit 'n Sleep.

Fashion Island and South Coast Plaza retailers will open as early as midnight for Black Friday shopping, officials from both centers said Monday. Macy's at both locations will open at midnight, as will Express at Fashion Island. At South Coast Plaza, many stores will begin opening at 4 a.m., including Guess, Express, Ann Taylor, the Disney Store, Corner Bakery, Zara, Foot Locker, Sears and others. At Fashion Island, Urban Outfitters will open at 4 a.m.; Dick's Sporting Goods and Bath & Body Works at 5 a.m.; Anthropologie and Original Penguin at 6 a.m.; Carrol Boyes and Victoria's Secret at 7 a.m.; Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's and Barnes & Noble at 8 a.m.; and Neiman Marcus and other stores at 9 a.m. Just in time for the holidays, Los Angeles-based women's fashion retailer Johnny Was opened its first county location at Fashion Island this month.

Fashion Island has expanded its inventory of luxury denim and high-quality jewelry with the addition of Earnest Sewn and Roberto Coin. High-end denim retailer Earnest Sewn opened a 2,300-square-foot space in the corridor between Macy's and Nordstrom on Oct. 1, said center spokeswoman Jane Gillespie. To commemorate the arrival of its first Orange County location, Earnest Sewn debuted the "Newport" jean at the new store. The limited-edition $198 denim is the first of the "Golden Ticket" line and features 24-karat gold buttons, rivets and a gold foil screen print.

COSTA MESA - In the eyes of Kim Farthing, a penny spent locally is a penny earned in the pocket of a friend or neighbor. For this reason, Farthing has adopted a mission to learn how to buy as much as possible - from food to bedding to underwear - from Orange County and American manufacturers. She hopes that spending on things made here will, in a small way, help lift the sagging American economy. "I have to accept the fact that I may pay more," said Farthing, 55, of Costa Mesa.

Irvine Spectrum Center shoppers will have eight new shopping and dining options by the end of the year, according to a news release this week. The Irvine Co.-owned shopping center recently opened women's apparel and accessories retailers Francesca's Collections and Charlotte Russe. The Spectrum location is the first one in Orange County for Francesca's, according to the release. Six other tenants, including retailers and restaurants, will begin opening as early as next week though the end of the year.