In their announcement yesterday, Apple indicated plans to open new Apple Stores around the country. One of the venues for the new retail outlets will be South Coast Plaza, a huge shopping mall located in Costa Mesa, CA. Since MacCentral’s recent travels brought us right by there, we stopped in for a look.
South Coast Plaza occupies a spot right off the Bristol Street exit of the San Diego Freeway, easily accessible to residents of California’s wealthy Orange County. The mall features a broad range of mainstream and upscale retail stores and boutiques. Its anchor stores include Macy’s, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue, with boutiques from designers like Jessica McClintock, Dolce & Gabbana, Versace and others.
A representative of South Coast Plaza’s leasing management office confirmed that the Apple Store would be occupying space in the mall. She indicated that details about where the store will be located still have to be worked out. In all likelihood, she said, Apple will be situated in the west section of the mall, located at the corners of South Coast Drive and Bear Street. The three-level structure is connected to the main mall by a sweeping third-story bridge, and currently has a number of vacancies.