Crystal Court: Just Where Are All Those Shoppers?

They didn’t build Crystal Court’s opulent, Romanesque marble columns in a day. And it is apparently taking much longer to build a regular clientele.

But despite evidence of disappointing sales and dissatisfied tenants, managers of the $100-million annex of South Coast Plaza say the outlook is as bright as the polished brass trimmings.

“We think sales at Crystal Court are doing fine, and traffic is improving weekly,” said James E. Henwood, South Coast general manager.

Still, several shop owners say there are far fewer customers than expected nearly 19 months after the opening of the annex.

“It’s very slow. There’s no question about that,” said Mark Doss, assistant manager at Scribner Book Store in Crystal Court.

Another longtime retailer was more blunt: “You can run bowling balls down the aisles here,” he said. “It generally looks like a tomb.”

According to recent figures released by mall officials, combined sales at South Coast Plaza and Crystal Court increased 20% to $613.3 million for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31.

That was considerably short of a $735-million projection made by mall officials as recently as a year ago.

While combined sales were up 20%, total retail space increased by more than 50% from 1986 to 1987 because of the opening of Crystal Court and expansion at the original mall.

Retail experts attribute the smaller-than-expected sales increase to Crystal Court’s slow start. Henwood, however, characterized the earlier $735-million estimate as “merely a goal.”

Sales Comparisons

Mall officials declined to provide separate sales totals for Crystal Court and South Coast Plaza. But they said sales at Crystal Court averaged about $200 per square foot last year, compared to about $370 at the original mall.

Others agree with Henwood that the ritzy annex eventually should post more impressive results.

“Within two, three years, they’ll be cooking,” said Steve Ginsberg, Los Angeles bureau chief for Women’s Wear Daily, who noted that Crystal Court is only 80% leased. “I think they’ll have some big numbers down the road when (the annex) is fully leased. . . . Right now, the numbers aren’t stellar.”

They are not stellar in part because the mall developer, C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, has been very selective in choosing tenants to match the annex’s upscale image. The Crystal Court roster, for instance, includes Alfred Sung, where designer dresses sell for up to $900, and Jessica McClintock, whose collection carries price tags as high as $800. El Portal sells imported attache cases for up to $900. And at the lone hamburger restaurant, Ruby’s, the average tab is $5.25.

Segerstrom “is not taking every Tom, Dick and Harry who wants to open a store,” Ginsberg noted. “He’s being very patient, and he has a good track record. . . . In the long term, you just know the thing is going to click.”

In fact, some Crystal Court retailers say they are doing very well, indeed. The North Face, Koala Blue, Jessica McClintock, Alfred Sung, El Portal and the annex’s three restaurants are among those that report brisk business. But most are “destination stores”--unique shops that lure shoppers from San Diego to the San Fernando Valley.

Wistful Talk

There is little doubt among most merchants and observers that Crystal Court could use more browsers and buyers. Many cite an apparent need for more moderately priced restaurants. And they talk wistfully about the day when Crystal Court becomes as well known as the shopper’s paradise across Bear Street.

“For every one of us here, there are four similar stores across the street. And people have been going to South Coast for 15, 20 years,” said Rob Campbell, manager of El Portal. E-ven so, he said, “we have as much to offer them (and) . . . we’re getting there.”

Gayle Hoepner, owner of Toys International at South Coast and Tutti Animali at Crystal Court, agrees that better days are ahead for Crystal Court.

“Naturally, we’d like to see it do a lot better,” Hoepner said. “But I’m not dissatisfied with what my store’s doing. And I feel very good about Crystal Court.”

Not everyone, however, feels that good.

While mall executives say they are pleased, industry experts and some retailers contend that Crystal Court has been a drain on the entire mall’s profitability.

They point to Crystal Court’s high prices, the lack of a clear identity, and the fact that South Coast shoppers must trek across a parking lot and Bear Street to reach the annex. But the biggest problem, some say, is that most shoppers can find whatever they need at the original mall without crossing four lanes of traffic to reach the annex.

According to several industry insiders, neither of the Crystal Court’s two anchors--the Broadway and JW Robinson’s--met 1987 sales projections. Robinson’s rang up about $33 million in sales last year, compared with expectations of about $50 million, several retailers said, while the Broadway’s sales were reportedly $34 million, down from initial projections of more than $40 million.

Figures in ‘Ballpark’

While representatives for Robinson’s and the Broadway would not confirm the sales figures, Crystal Court general manager Jack Matthess said that they “sound like they’re in the ballpark.”

William D. MacDonald, senior vice president of marketing for the Broadway’s Southern California operations, acknowledged that the Costa Mesa store “did not perform as originally planned.” But “we saw what was happening and planned accordingly,” he added. “And we continue to support Crystal Court because we’re convinced of the potential of that business.”

A Robinson’s representative declined to discuss the store’s 1987 sales.

Many merchants contend that the anchors are Crystal Court’s biggest problem.

“The mall would have been a whole different place if we had a Nordstrom. . . . But there’s a Robinson’s in Fashion Island, Westminster Mall and in MainPlace. And the Broadway is nothing special,” said one retailer who asked not to be named.

“All they need to do is pull the sign off the Broadway store and put up another sign--called Bloomingdale’s,” said Hoepner, the toy stores owner.

Until Robinson’s and the Broadway begin drawing bigger crowds, smaller retailers will not prosper, according to retail experts. “If the big guys don’t pull, the little guys don’t do as well,” said Ginsberg. “And the big guys (at Crystal Court) fell short, so it dragged everybody down.”

Several Merchants Struggling

One retailer, Daniel Cremieux, already has left Crystal Court. And several other merchants--particularly small, independent shops--are said to be struggling.

Then there is the problem of South Coast Plaza, with its dizzying array of retailers and restaurants.

“South Coast is already the strongest center in Orange County,” said Alfred Gobar, an Orange County real estate economist. “There’s a point where you can tap dance all you want to and make the magnet bigger and bigger. But you won’t pull anyone from further away because consumers are already committed (to South Coast Plaza). . . . How much more can you make a mall when you’re already getting a huge market penetration?”

Henwood characterized the $200 in sales per square as “good for Crystal Court’s first year.”

Others disagree. “It’s not good,” said Sarah Stack, a vice president and retail analyst with Bateman Eichler, Hill Richards in Los Angeles. “The best comparison is what’s happening across the street. . . . It indicates that Crystal Court needs another draw.”

In comparison, Horton Plaza in San Diego posted 1987 sales of $294 per square foot, and the Beverly Center in Los Angeles recorded almost $400. In Orange County, Brea Mall reached $237 per square foot last year, and Westminster Mall hit $197.

When mall planners first envisioned Crystal Court, they had high hopes for the 685,000-square-foot annex. After all, the entire South Coast complex of 2.7 million square feet now attracts close to 40,000 shoppers a day. And it has long been the top-grossing mall in the state.

But the annex seems to be gaining popularity at a sluggish pace.

“The biggest problem is that the other side is so darn big,” said John Jackson, a 45-year-old computer programmer from Los Angeles during a recent shopping excursion with his wife. The result, he said, is that Crystal Court “is really dead.”

At South Coast, “once you’ve parked and fought the crowds, there’s a tendency to stay right there,” said Brad Fanshaw, a 26-year-old marketing director from Newport Beach.

Pedestrian Bridges Discussed

An initial strategy for the annex called for a pair of pedestrian bridges to connect South Coast with Crystal Court. There were discussions of bridges similar to those at the Glendale Galleria or Del Amo Fashion Center, where patrons can browse as they cross an overpass lined with shops.

In fact, Scribner Book Store chose its third-floor location at Crystal Court because the retailer believed that it would someday be right next to a connecting bridge, according to Doss, the assistant manager.

Instead, when Crystal Court was finally approved, Costa Mesa officials indicated that overhead access would be provided “when studies warranted the need,” recalled City Manager Allan L. Roeder. “It was vague because there was no information then about whether a bridge was really necessary and where it would go.”

There also was the likelihood of opposition from anchor tenants at South Coast. At least one of the major department stores there was less than enthusiastic about the possibility of its customers being lured away, several retailers said.

A task force created when Crystal Court opened in late 1986 recently completed a study on the proposed bridges. The study, which a city advisory committee will consider this week, concludes that an overpass isn’t needed right now.

“There just isn’t enough pedestrian traffic between the two entities to make a bridge feasible. Only a small percent--a half dozen people a day if we’re lucky--would use the bridge,” said Malcolm Ross, director of planning and design for Segerstrom.

And even if the report recommended otherwise, said Roeder, the city manager, “I don’t know that the city would have any authority at this point to make it binding.”

Last year, management began operating a free shuttle between the original mall and the annex, but the service didn’t help. The shuttle was dropped earlier this year because “it wasn’t used at all,” said Matthess, Crystal Court’s general manager.

Many shoppers may have eschewed Crystal Court in favor of South Coast because of the annex’s image as a place for people who tote Gucci bags and flash American Express Platinum Cards.

“What’s missing is the people,” said one retailer. “It’s very sedate and kind of sophisticated.”

The result is that some potential customers don’t even realize that Crystal Court exists.

“I never even knew (Crystal Court) was here until my daughter got a job,” said Cherri Donithan, a 43-year-old Hesperia homemaker who regularly shops at South Coast.

“If she wasn’t working here, I probably still wouldn’t know about Crystal Court.”