scott55405
Scott, when South Coast Plaza first opened, it had a typically Middle American mix of merchants. However, with the first expansion in the mid-70s (when they opened the first Nordstrom outside the Northwest), the complex shifted to upscale merchants. And it became even more upscale with each successive expansion. The mid-80s expansion, the Jewel Court, was almost exclusively filled with European luxury goods stores: Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Mark Cross, Yves St. Laurent, etc. It almost seemed like Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.
At about the same time, the Segerstroms began buying out the middle of the road retailers, and a Hallmark store (if there ever was one there) was exactly the kind of business they DIDN'T want: too mundane, and not the kind of store to generate huge profits or lure shoppers into the mall. I don't remember all of the retailers who left, but I recall that Woolworth's and the Wherehouse (music store) left after their leases were bought out. There used to be a Harris & Frank store at the corner of where the expansion (carousel area) met the old original May-Sears corridor, but I think the parent company went out of business rather than it being too middle brow for the Segerstroms.
As for a food court, there never was one there. Instead, there were restaurants scattered here and there, with enclosed seating. Again, I think they were shooting for people who could pay sit-down prices rather than those seeking take-away fast food. Some of the restaurants (like the recently closed Gustaf Anders and the long-gone Piret's) offered some of the best cuisine in the county. In addition, the presence of quality food inside some of the stores (e.g. Nordstrom Café) prevented the development of a food court.
I think their marketing strategy was to create a mall offering a high end collection of goods that you couldn't find anywhere else in the region, and they were willing to relinquish the Woolworths and Hallmark customers to the smaller, "average" malls in the area.
