Forever 21 Officially Headed to South Coast Plaza
Sears Holdings Corp. announced on July 26 it has signed a long-term lease with Forever 21 for the fast-fashion retailer to occupy a large amount of space inside Sears’ store at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Calif.
Forever 21 will basically carve out 43,000 square feet inside the Sears store to open a large-format XXI Forever, scheduled to debut next spring.
The California Apparel News first reported about the possible venture in its June 11 edition. Los Angeles–based Forever 21 will lease a small portion of the upper-level section of Sears and a portion of the lower-level space. It will have an entrance facing the parking lot off Bristol Street and a dedicated entry into the center on the lower level.
“The proximity to Bristol Street and convenient customer parking made the Sears location one of the best locations at South Coast Plaza,” said Larry Meyer, executive vice president at Forever 21, in a statement. “We are thrilled we have been able to reach this agreement with Sears Holdings’ real estate team.”
For Sears, this provides more income for its mammoth store, which occupies a considerable chunk of one wing at South Coast Plaza. Sears, being one of the first tenants at the upscale shopping center, which opened in 1967, owns its 274,317-square-foot store as well as almost another 600,000 square feet of space at the 2.8 million-square-foot shopping center. The mall is home to luxury-brand stores such as Max Mara, St. John, Tiffany & Co. and Burberry as well as fast-fashion stores such as H&M and Zara.
“This agreement is a great example of Sears Holdings selectively redeploying its asset base to improve the retail experience for consumers while working to create long-term shareholder value,” said Jeff Stollenwerck, Sears’ president of real estate.
Forever 21 has been on a major expansion spree to open larger emporiums that could be likened to mini-department stores. In late June, it opened a 91,000-square-foot flagship store in the former Virgin Megastore in New York’s Times Square.—Deborah Belgum
