Fashion Island - "one-stop, one-shop" mall for shoppers

Daily Fashion Juice
Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Fashion Island into a "one-stop, one-shop" mall for shoppers

High-end grocery shopping is back at Fashion Island.

The Irvine Co., whose hopes for nabbing a Soho-style food market crashed when Dean & DeLuca canceled plans at the Newport Beach center, said it will open a Whole Foods Market next year. The 32,000-square-foot supermarket is expected to have a wide variety of prepared foods, wine and beer.

The store will be the natural food giant's fifth Orange County location and first in Newport Beach. Before Fashion Island opens its store, another Whole Foods market in Laguna Niguel is slated open in early 2012, possibly by February.

"I'm really excited about finally having a store in Newport Beach," said Patrick Bradley, president of Whole Foods Market’s Southern Pacific region. "I think we're going to fit the community and neighborhood really well."

In a statement to investors, Whole Foods Market said Wednesday that the Newport Beach market is among a handful of new stores planned in the West. New markets are also slated for Kailua, Hawaii and Del Mar in 2012.

The Fashion Island market will take up the space that was once slated for a two-story Dean & Deluca. The market, a one-level store above Dick's Sporting Goods, will be 32,000-square-feet. That's roughly the same size as the Huntington Beach Whole Foods store, which opened last fall at Bella Terra.

Irvine Co. officials, who admitted disappointment when Dean & Deluca scrapped its Fashion Island plans in late 2009, said Whole Foods is a "perfect fit" for the coastal customers.

“We believe Whole Foods Market will enhance the center’s mix of eclectic, one-of-a-kind merchants who want their customers to experience more than the typical regional mall experience offers," said Keith Eyrich, president of Irvine Company Retail Properties.

Whole Foods called Fashion Island a prime spot for the chain, which has locations in Tustin, Laguna Beach and Huntington Beach, and the fourth market in Laguna Niguel planned for February or March.

Bradley said Whole Foods is looking to open more O.C. locations.

"Orange County is certainly an area where we have significant growth opportunity," he said. "We're continuing to look at the right opportunities."

Like other Whole Foods locations, the Fashion Island store will be custom-designed to cater to the community.

"We don't do cookie-cutter stores," Bradley said.

Though store design and grocery offerings are in still in the planning stages, the Fashion Island market will have a significant beer and wine selection, as well as a larger than normal variety of prepared foods.

"We're looking to have a wine bar in the store, but it's too early to commit fully to that. It certainly is a goal of mine," Bradley said.

With Whole Foods landing a space at the center, Irvine Co. officials hope to turn Fashion Island into a "one-stop, one-shop" mall for shoppers.

"We do believe a lot of people will make a trip to Fashion Island for a new and different reason," Eyrich said.

But what about shopping cart clutter control?

At Dean & Deluca, the expectation was shoppers would have a place to grab one or two tote bags worth of gourmet items. But Whole Foods is a full-service supermarket, where shoppers could conceivably be lugging a cart full of groceries across the mall.

Bradley said timed parking spots near the market should encourage shoppers to park nearby. However, if grocery shoppers park away from the market, Eyrich said the center's new trolley service can shuttle shoppers with a few grocery bags to their cars. (CLICK HERE to learn more about the trolley service).

Cart corrals will be near Whole Foods to prevent stray carts from wandering into the main center. Eyrich said it will be "rare" to find abandoned carts left in the center of the mall.

The Whole Foods announcement comes as Fashion Island continues to evolve amid its $100 million mall enhancement project. The mall has landed roughly 42 fresh stores. Many are new, but some, like Wahoo’s Fish Taco, are relocating to larger spaces within the mall.

Wahoo's and Subway were forced to relocate to make way for a retooling of the movie theater. Expected to reopen in December, the seven-screen Island Cinemas will become a "premier movie-going experience" offering a bistro menu, craft beer, champagne and wine.

Movie-goers will be allowed to take their food into the auditorium, which is outfitted with luxury seating and 10-inch arm rests, Eyrich said.