In March 1967, members of the Segerstrom family, most notably, Harold (Hal) T. Segerstrom Jr. and cousin,
Henry Segerstrom opened a shopping center called "South Coast Plaza" in one of the family's
lima bean fields in rapidly growing
Orange County. Originally anchored by a
May Company that had opened in late 1966 and
Sears, the initial phase of the center was designed by
Victor Gruen. It was built the same year as
The Irvine Company's nearby
Fashion Island in
Newport Beach. The success of the center brought rapid expansion: an additional wing with
Bullock's in 1973,
I. Magnin in 1977,
Nordstrom in 1978, and
Saks Fifth Avenue in 1979. The opening of the Nordstrom store is considered a seminal event as it was the first Nordstrom store outside of the
Pacific Northwest and marked the West Coast and later the nationwide expansion of its chain. In 1986, the center began opening its largest expansion, with Nordstrom replacing its store with a new location twice the size of the original in May, and the addition of a free-standing wing across Bear Street, identified as "Crystal Court" and anchored by
The Broadway and
J. W. Robinson's, which opened in the Fall. These two stores were anchors at nearby
Fashion Island, but were willing to cannibalize sales at that location due to the strong drawing power of South Coast Plaza. This signified South Coast Plaza's elevation from a regional shopping center to a national shopping destination. The expansion continued in fall 1987 with an enlargement of Bullock's and the redevelopment of the former Nordstrom as additional center space, including a
Tiffany's that opened in fall 1988. The Crystal Court standalone wing never performed as well as the original center, its separation due both to land restrictions and the fact that May Co. and The Broadway routinely refused to allow each other to build stores at their existing centers, which explains the proximity of so many competing malls throughout Southern California. In 1991, the I. Magnin location was closed by I. Magnin's new owner, FDS (Federated Department Stores) and reopened as the first standalone
Bullock's Men's store, also owned by FDS. May Co. and Robinson's merged in 1993 to form
Robinsons-May, retaining both locations as separate full-line stores, while the two Bullock's locations and Broadway store were all renamed
Macy's in early 1996, with again like Robinsons-May, separate stores being maintained on either side of Bear Street. In 1995, prior to the
Federated Department Stores/
Broadway Stores merger,
Bloomingdale's was in negotiations to build a location at South Coast Plaza, but other anchor tenants would not give permission for its construction. When FDS merged all the stores into its
Macy's West division in 1996, it opted to not convert Broadway's Crystal Court location to Bloomingdale's. Another $100,000,000 renovation and reconfiguring of the center came in 2000, with Robinsons-May closing its Crystal Court location and expanding the original May Co. store. The separate Crystal Court name was dropped and the free-standing wing, now called the west wing, was joined to the original center by a -long pedestrian bridge across Bear Street. The west side was reoriented toward home furnishings, anchored by the former Broadway store, which was refurbished as Macy's Home and Furniture. The former J. W. Robinson's store was redeveloped as center space at the time, housing primarily
Crate & Barrel,
Borders Books and Music, and
Sport Chalet. In March 2006, the
Robinsons-May store, historically the first store at South Coast Plaza as the
May Company, was closed as part of its merger with Macy's and reopened as Bloomingdale's in May 2007. South Coast Plaza is still privately held by the Segerstrom family (and the second largest family-owned center in the United States behind the
Mall of America), and so is one of the few shopping centers in the United States that have not been purchased by a
real estate investment trust/REIT. Sandra (Sandy) Segerstrom Daniels a Managing Partner of C. J. Segerstrom & Sons, founded the Festival of Children Foundation in 2002. The foundation hosts the annual Festival of Children at South Coast Plaza each September.
Festival of Children coincides with the foundation's efforts to recognize September as National Child Awareness Month. ==Architecture==